Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands101y ago
M6.0 earthquake 126 km WSW of Malango, Solomon Islands
Friday, October 1, 1926, 22:13:29 UTC · 10.267°S, 158.720°E
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 126 km WSW of Malango, Solomon Islands on Friday, October 1, 1926, 22:13:29 UTC, at a depth of 20.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.1 on September 16, 1926.
- Magnitude
- 6.0
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 20 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
18 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 38 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
73 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
20 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 12 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.562 km SW of Malango, Solomon IslandsJanuary 25, 1926 · 66 km E of this epicenter
- 7.341 km ESE of Malango, Solomon IslandsFebruary 19, 1906 · 150 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1110 km SE of Gizo, Solomon IslandsMarch 27, 1926 · 206 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.133 km WNW of Malango, Solomon IslandsSeptember 16, 1926 · 116 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.084 km SE of Honiara, Solomon IslandsDecember 9, 1909 · 196 km E of this epicenter
- 7.0147 km SSW of Gizo, Solomon IslandsMay 7, 1920 · 273 km W of this epicenter
- 6.796 km SW of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsJanuary 6, 1919 · 298 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 3 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1926M6.9
Solomon Islands
16 Sep 1926 · 110 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1926M7.5
Guadalcanal
25 Jan 1926 · 59 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1926M7.5
Solomon Islands
12 Apr 1926 · 251 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.