Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands107y ago
M6.5 earthquake 277 km WSW of Gizo, Solomon Islands
Monday, December 13, 1920, 03:43:04 UTC · 9.074°S, 154.520°E
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 277 km WSW of Gizo, Solomon Islands on Monday, December 13, 1920, 03:43:04 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on May 7, 1920.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- 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
71 kilotons of TNT
That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 150 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
68 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Woodlark and Solomon Sea 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 8 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.0147 km SSW of Gizo, Solomon IslandsMay 7, 1920 · 210 km E of this epicenter
- 6.7112 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 21, 1918 · 223 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.5177 km SW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaSeptember 3, 1916 · 207 km N of this epicenter
- 6.339 km N of Gizo, Solomon IslandsJune 16, 1918 · 290 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.3182 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaMarch 21, 1919 · 268 km N of this epicenter
- 6.3D'Entrecasteaux Islands regionOctober 10, 1907 · 138 km W of this epicenter
- 6.1128 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 12, 1917 · 199 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.062 km SSE of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 21, 1918 · 290 km NE 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:
- 1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 197 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.