M4.5 earthquake 110 km SW of Lata, Solomon Islands

Saturday, March 23, 2013, 05:38:17 UTC · 11.467°S, 165.121°E

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 110 km SW of Lata, Solomon Islands on Saturday, March 23, 2013, 05:38:17 UTC, at a depth of 16.6 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on March 23, 2013.

Magnitude: 4.5; Light · mb
Depth: 17 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

85 tons of TNT

That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

13 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

17 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 8 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.1 on April 16, 2013. 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 1,484 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 22 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 10 recorded deaths. The most severe:

2013M7.9
Santa Cruz Islands
6 Feb 2013 · 74 km away · intensity VIII
10 deaths$36 million damagetsunami
1997M7.7
Santa Cruz Islands; Vanuatu
21 Apr 1997 · 210 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1980M7.5
Santa Cruz Islands: Banks
8 Jul 1980 · 173 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1980M7.9
Santa Cruz Islands; Vanuatu
17 Jul 1980 · 146 km away
tsunami
1934M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
18 Jul 1934 · 182 km away
tsunami
1957M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
17 Dec 1957 · 195 km away

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

Nearby trackers