Reviewed by USGS118y ago
M6.8 earthquake southeast of the Loyalty Islands
Sunday, January 30, 1910, 03:45:48 UTC · 24.311°S, 170.872°E
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck southeast of the Loyalty Islands on Sunday, January 30, 1910, 03:45:48 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on November 14, 1906.
- Magnitude
- 6.8
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 25 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
201 kilotons of TNT
That is about 13 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 422 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
144 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the New Hebrides and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
25 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 10 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.2southeast of the Loyalty IslandsNovember 14, 1906 · 211 km N of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsApril 14, 1906 · 229 km N of this epicenter
- 6.8southeast of the Loyalty IslandsMarch 10, 1906 · 285 km N of this epicenter
- 6.7southeast of the Loyalty IslandsJuly 17, 1905 · 174 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.7southeast of the Loyalty IslandsJune 14, 1905 · 262 km E of this epicenter
- 6.6southeast of the Loyalty IslandsMarch 10, 1906 · 169 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.6southeast of the Loyalty IslandsMarch 28, 1906 · 139 km E 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:
- 1901M7.9
Loyalty Islands
9 Aug 1901 · 272 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.