Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands110y ago
M6.5 earthquake 201 km S of Lata, Solomon Islands
Tuesday, March 19, 1918, 05:55:25 UTC · 12.535°S, 166.028°E
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 201 km S of Lata, Solomon Islands on Tuesday, March 19, 1918, 05:55:25 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.3 on January 5, 1915.
- 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
20 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
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 12 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 · 191 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.344 km SSW of Sola, VanuatuJanuary 5, 1915 · 237 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.256 km N of Port-Olry, VanuatuNovember 26, 1910 · 248 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.046 km WNW of Port-Olry, VanuatuApril 10, 1909 · 265 km S of this epicenter
- 7.045 km E of Lata, Solomon IslandsJune 20, 1914 · 199 km N of this epicenter
- 6.955 km SSW of Sola, VanuatuJuly 11, 1911 · 237 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.84 km S of Sola, VanuatuJune 27, 1909 · 226 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.761 km SSW of Sola, VanuatuNovember 10, 1910 · 242 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 · 171 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.