QuakeScout
Magnitude4.6

Reviewed by USGSNew Caledonia7y ago

M4.6 earthquake 139 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia

Thursday, July 18, 2019, 22:37:58 UTC · 21.854°S, 169.188°E

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 139 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia on Thursday, July 18, 2019, 22:37:58 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on July 6, 2019.

Magnitude
4.6
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

120 tons of TNT

That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

11 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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.7 on August 8, 2019. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.6
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.5129 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia7y ago · 19 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 4.7165 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia7y ago · 27 km E of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,574 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.11920 Vanuatu EarthquakeSeptember 20, 1920 · 221 km N of this epicenter
  2. 7.828 km ESE of Isangel, VanuatuJune 16, 1910 · 253 km N of this epicenter
  3. 7.7249 km E of Vao, New CaledoniaMay 16, 1995 · 148 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.6274 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaMarch 16, 1928 · 136 km SE of this epicenter
  5. 7.5southeast of the Loyalty IslandsJanuary 4, 1998 · 184 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.5166 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaDecember 5, 2018 · 27 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 7.447 km NW of Isangel, VanuatuOctober 11, 1992 · 291 km N of this epicenter

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:

  1. 1875M8.1

    Loyalty Islands: Lifou Island

    28 Mar 1875 · 218 km away

    26 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  2. 1901M7.9

    Loyalty Islands

    9 Aug 1901 · 85 km away

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  3. 1920M8.1

    Loyalty Islands

    20 Sep 1920 · 221 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  4. 2018M7.5

    Loyalty Islands

    5 Dec 2018 · 27 km away · intensity III

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  5. 2010M7.3

    Vanuatu Islands

    25 Dec 2010 · 272 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  6. 1913M8.1

    Vanuatu Islands

    14 Oct 1913 · 263 km away

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

Nearby trackers

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