Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands60y ago
M5.9 earthquake 150 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands
Thursday, January 19, 1967, 12:38:31 UTC · 11.903°S, 166.494°E
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 150 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands on Thursday, January 19, 1967, 12:38:31 UTC, at a depth of 140.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.0 on January 16, 1967.
- Magnitude
- 5.9
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 140 km
- Intermediate
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
11 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 22 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
47 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the African and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
140 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 147 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8146 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsDecember 31, 1966 · 5 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.8186 km NNW of Sola, VanuatuDecember 17, 1957 · 61 km S of this epicenter
- 7.7138 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 18, 1934 · 13 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.428 km NW of Lata, Solomon IslandsSeptember 15, 1963 · 179 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.454 km ESE of Lata, Solomon IslandsMay 17, 1941 · 121 km N of this epicenter
- 7.344 km SSW of Sola, VanuatuJanuary 5, 1915 · 275 km S of this epicenter
- 7.379 km WSW of Sola, VanuatuAugust 6, 1912 · 242 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1910M7.2
Espiritu Santo
10 Nov 1910 · 233 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1934M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
18 Jul 1934 · 26 km away
tsunami
- 1957M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
17 Dec 1957 · 50 km away
- 1966M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
31 Dec 1966 · 5 km away
tsunami
- 1909M7.7
Solomon Islands
9 Dec 1909 · 267 km away
- 1900M7.6
Santa Cruz Islands
29 Jul 1900 · 267 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.