M7.9 earthquake 199 km S of Lata, Solomon Islands

Thursday, July 17, 1980, 19:42:23 UTC · 12.525°S, 165.916°E

A magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck 199 km S of Lata, Solomon Islands on Thursday, July 17, 1980, 19:42:23 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.

Magnitude: 7.9; Major · ms
Depth: 33 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VI; Strong (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 200 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

11 megatons of TNT

That is about 709 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 22,387 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

8 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

33 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 200 km

USGS lists 40 M2.5+ earthquakes within 200 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.7 on July 29, 1980. 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 488 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 15 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

1973M7.5
Espiritu Santo, Luganille
28 Dec 1973 · 228 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
1910M7.2
Espiritu Santo
10 Nov 1910 · 176 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1980M7.5
Santa Cruz Islands: Banks
8 Jul 1980 · 52 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1980M7.9
Santa Cruz Islands; Vanuatu
17 Jul 1980 · 0 km away
tsunami
1934M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
18 Jul 1934 · 112 km away
tsunami
1957M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
17 Dec 1957 · 89 km away

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

Nearby trackers