Reviewed by USGS99y ago
M6.4 earthquake southeast of the Loyalty Islands
Sunday, March 18, 1928, 03:02:19 UTC · 22.333°S, 170.685°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck southeast of the Loyalty Islands on Sunday, March 18, 1928, 03:02:19 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.6 on March 16, 1928.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- Strong · 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
60 kilotons of TNT
That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 126 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
54 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the New Hebrides and Australian 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 100 km
USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.3 on March 18, 1928. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 32 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.6274 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaMarch 16, 1928 · 30 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2southeast of the Loyalty IslandsNovember 14, 1906 · 98 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsApril 14, 1906 · 66 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1175 km SE of Isangel, VanuatuMarch 30, 1910 · 180 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0southeast of the Loyalty IslandsAugust 25, 1926 · 179 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.0204 km E of Tadine, New CaledoniaFebruary 1, 1923 · 115 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.893 km S of Isangel, VanuatuJune 1, 1910 · 257 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1901M7.9
Loyalty Islands
9 Aug 1901 · 80 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1928M7.5
Loyalty Islands
16 Mar 1928 · 42 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.