Reviewed by USGS103y ago
M6.8 earthquake southeast of the Loyalty Islands
Monday, February 9, 1925, 14:09:54 UTC · 22.517°S, 170.807°E
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck southeast of the Loyalty Islands on Monday, February 9, 1925, 14:09:54 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on February 1, 1923.
- Magnitude
- 6.8
- 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
223 kilotons of TNT
That is about 15 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 468 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
43 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
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 22 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.2southeast of the Loyalty IslandsNovember 14, 1906 · 83 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsApril 14, 1906 · 59 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.1175 km SE of Isangel, VanuatuMarch 30, 1910 · 202 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0204 km E of Tadine, New CaledoniaFebruary 1, 1923 · 138 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.893 km S of Isangel, VanuatuJune 1, 1910 · 281 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.8southeast of the Loyalty IslandsMarch 10, 1906 · 117 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.8southeast of the Loyalty IslandsJanuary 30, 1910 · 200 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1901M7.9
Loyalty Islands
9 Aug 1901 · 101 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.