Reviewed by USGSVanuatu107y ago
M6.8 earthquake 195 km NNW of Sola, Vanuatu
Thursday, May 20, 1920, 07:26:06 UTC · 12.327°S, 166.676°E
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 195 km NNW of Sola, Vanuatu on Thursday, May 20, 1920, 07:26:06 UTC, at a depth of 80.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.8 on August 23, 1918.
- Magnitude
- 6.8
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 80 km
- Intermediate
- 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
231 kilotons of TNT
That is about 15 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 484 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
93 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: intermediate
80 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 15 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.379 km WSW of Sola, VanuatuAugust 6, 1912 · 193 km S of this epicenter
- 7.344 km SSW of Sola, VanuatuJanuary 5, 1915 · 224 km S of this epicenter
- 7.256 km N of Port-Olry, VanuatuNovember 26, 1910 · 249 km S of this epicenter
- 7.046 km WNW of Port-Olry, VanuatuApril 10, 1909 · 278 km S of this epicenter
- 7.045 km E of Lata, Solomon IslandsJune 20, 1914 · 182 km N of this epicenter
- 6.955 km SSW of Sola, VanuatuJuly 11, 1911 · 228 km S of this epicenter
- 6.896 km W of Lata, Solomon IslandsAugust 23, 1918 · 257 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.84 km S of Sola, VanuatuJune 27, 1909 · 201 km SE 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:
- 1910M7.2
Espiritu Santo
10 Nov 1910 · 187 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.