Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands13y ago
M4.5 earthquake 148 km ESE of Kirakira, Solomon Islands
Thursday, March 7, 2013, 17:16:03 UTC · 11.087°S, 163.113°E
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 148 km ESE of Kirakira, Solomon Islands on Thursday, March 7, 2013, 17:16:03 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on March 6, 2013.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- 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
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
23 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
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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.1 on March 26, 2013. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 991 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.02013 Santa Cruz Islands EarthquakeFebruary 6, 2013 · 221 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8116 km NW of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsOctober 10, 1931 · 262 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.8108 km SW of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsOctober 3, 1931 · 209 km W of this epicenter
- 7.656 km W of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsDecember 15, 1935 · 202 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.6121 km W of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsAugust 10, 1988 · 263 km W of this epicenter
- 7.5105 km ESE of Honiara, Solomon IslandsApril 20, 1977 · 286 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.5103 km SE of Honiara, Solomon IslandsApril 21, 1977 · 289 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 19 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 79 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1931M7.8
San Cristobal Island
3 Oct 1931 · 230 km away
50 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1977M8.1
Solomon Islands
21 Apr 1977 · 289 km away · intensity VII
18 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 2013M7.9
Santa Cruz Islands
6 Feb 2013 · 221 km away · intensity VIII
10 deaths$36 million damagetsunami
- 1988M7.6
San Cristobal, Guadalcanal
10 Aug 1988 · 259 km away
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1977M7.5
Solomon Islands
20 Apr 1977 · 286 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1909M7.7
Solomon Islands
9 Dec 1909 · 239 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.