Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands109y ago
M6.8 earthquake 96 km W of Lata, Solomon Islands
Friday, August 23, 1918, 06:36:44 UTC · 10.783°S, 164.917°E
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 96 km W of Lata, Solomon Islands on Friday, August 23, 1918, 06:36:44 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on June 20, 1914.
- 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
274 kilotons of TNT
That is about 18 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 575 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
45 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 8 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.547 km ESE of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsDecember 10, 1910 · 287 km W of this epicenter
- 7.3128 km SE of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsApril 11, 1914 · 246 km W of this epicenter
- 7.045 km E of Lata, Solomon IslandsJune 20, 1914 · 141 km E of this epicenter
- 6.7106 km ESE of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsJune 9, 1905 · 224 km W of this epicenter
- 6.6149 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsOctober 20, 1911 · 196 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.5201 km S of Lata, Solomon IslandsMarch 19, 1918 · 229 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.0178 km ENE of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsNovember 30, 1917 · 181 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1909M7.7
Solomon Islands
9 Dec 1909 · 88 km away
- 1900M7.6
Santa Cruz Islands
29 Jul 1900 · 88 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.