QuakeScout
Magnitude7.0

Reviewed by USGSVanuatu119y ago

M7.0 earthquake 46 km WNW of Port-Olry, Vanuatu

Saturday, April 10, 1909, 05:27:18 UTC · 14.825°S, 166.697°E

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck 46 km WNW of Port-Olry, Vanuatu on Saturday, April 10, 1909, 05:27:18 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.1 on October 11, 1907.

Magnitude
7.0
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

430 kilotons of TNT

That is about 29 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 902 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

47 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 4 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.1157 km E of Lakatoro, VanuatuOctober 11, 1907 · 277 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 6.6139 km ESE of Lakatoro, VanuatuApril 25, 1905 · 277 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 6.661 km NW of Port-Olry, VanuatuJune 27, 1907 · 24 km N of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1909

    Espiritu Santo

    8 Jul 1909 · 92 km away

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  2. 1903M7.9

    Vanuatu Islands

    13 May 1903 · 279 km away

  3. 1892

    Espiritu Santo

    Aug 1892 · 49 km away

    tsunami

  4. 1905

    Malo Pass

    19 Mar 1905 · 102 km away

    tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

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