M4.9 earthquake 139 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia

Sunday, December 23, 2018, 06:04:21 UTC · 21.963°S, 169.154°E

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 139 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia on Sunday, December 23, 2018, 06:04:21 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.1 on December 17, 2018.

Magnitude: 4.9; Light · mb
Depth: 10 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

338 tons of TNT

That is about 1/45 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

18 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

10 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 50 km

USGS lists 13 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.6 on January 21, 2019. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,515 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 28 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 26 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1875M8.1
Loyalty Islands: Lifou Island
28 Mar 1875 · 229 km away
26 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1901M7.9
Loyalty Islands
9 Aug 1901 · 87 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1920M8.1
Loyalty Islands
20 Sep 1920 · 231 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
2018M7.5
Loyalty Islands
5 Dec 2018 · 28 km away · intensity III
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
2010M7.3
Vanuatu Islands
25 Dec 2010 · 281 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1913M8.1
Vanuatu Islands
14 Oct 1913 · 274 km away

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

Nearby trackers