Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands93y ago
M6.0 earthquake 111 km SSW of Lata, Solomon Islands
Friday, July 27, 1934, 12:25:41 UTC · 11.715°S, 165.588°E
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 111 km SSW of Lata, Solomon Islands on Friday, July 27, 1934, 12:25:41 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.2 on July 22, 1934.
- Magnitude
- 6.0
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 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
17 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 35 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
0 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
15 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 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 39 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 · 91 km E of this epicenter
- 7.379 km WSW of Sola, VanuatuAugust 6, 1912 · 294 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.345 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 21, 1934 · 80 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.0143 km NNW of Sola, VanuatuOctober 15, 1921 · 185 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.0165 km NW of Sola, VanuatuJuly 19, 1934 · 162 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.045 km E of Lata, Solomon IslandsJune 20, 1914 · 126 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.9212 km S of Lata, Solomon IslandsSeptember 22, 1928 · 108 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1910M7.2
Espiritu Santo
10 Nov 1910 · 273 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1934M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
18 Jul 1934 · 126 km away
tsunami
- 1909M7.7
Solomon Islands
9 Dec 1909 · 201 km away
- 1900M7.6
Santa Cruz Islands
29 Jul 1900 · 201 km away
- 1934M7.1
Solomon Islands; New Caledonia
21 Jul 1934 · 65 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.