Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands86y ago
M7.4 earthquake 54 km ESE of Lata, Solomon Islands
Saturday, May 17, 1941, 02:24:58 UTC · 10.837°S, 166.279°E
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck 54 km ESE of Lata, Solomon Islands on Saturday, May 17, 1941, 02:24:58 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.7 on July 18, 1934.
- Magnitude
- 7.4
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 35 km
- Shallow
- 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
1.8 megatons of TNT
That is about 122 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 3,846 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
84 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: shallow
35 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
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 200 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 48 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.7138 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 18, 1934 · 110 km S of this epicenter
- 7.345 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 21, 1934 · 45 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.0143 km NNW of Sola, VanuatuOctober 15, 1921 · 222 km S of this epicenter
- 7.0165 km NW of Sola, VanuatuJuly 19, 1934 · 238 km S of this epicenter
- 7.045 km E of Lata, Solomon IslandsJune 20, 1914 · 12 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.9212 km S of Lata, Solomon IslandsSeptember 22, 1928 · 206 km S of this epicenter
- 6.896 km W of Lata, Solomon IslandsAugust 23, 1918 · 149 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1934M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
18 Jul 1934 · 129 km away
tsunami
- 1909M7.7
Solomon Islands
9 Dec 1909 · 168 km away
- 1900M7.6
Santa Cruz Islands
29 Jul 1900 · 168 km away
- 1934M7.1
Solomon Islands; New Caledonia
21 Jul 1934 · 91 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.