Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands50y ago
M4.5 earthquake 40 km WNW of Kirakira, Solomon Islands
Thursday, May 26, 1977, 15:14:59 UTC · 10.352°S, 161.569°E
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 40 km WNW of Kirakira, Solomon Islands on Thursday, May 26, 1977, 15:14:59 UTC, at a depth of 80.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.7 on May 20, 1977.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 80 km
- Intermediate
- 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
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
95 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: intermediate
80 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 238 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8116 km NW of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsOctober 10, 1931 · 83 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.823 km SSE of Malango, Solomon IslandsApril 30, 1939 · 198 km W of this epicenter
- 7.8108 km SW of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsOctober 3, 1931 · 94 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.656 km W of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsDecember 15, 1935 · 17 km W of this epicenter
- 7.5105 km ESE of Honiara, Solomon IslandsApril 20, 1977 · 99 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.566 km SE of Honiara, Solomon IslandsApril 20, 1977 · 143 km W of this epicenter
- 7.5103 km SE of Honiara, Solomon IslandsApril 21, 1977 · 101 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.562 km SW of Malango, Solomon IslandsJanuary 25, 1926 · 252 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 14 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 114 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1931M7.8
San Cristobal Island
3 Oct 1931 · 88 km away
50 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1977M6.8
Solomon Islands
20 Apr 1977 · 148 km away · intensity VI
34 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1977M8.1
Solomon Islands
21 Apr 1977 · 101 km away · intensity VII
18 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1939M7.9
Solomon Islands
30 Apr 1939 · 282 km away
12 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1926M6.9
Solomon Islands
16 Sep 1926 · 237 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1977M7.6
Solomon Islands
20 Apr 1977 · 143 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.