M6.3 earthquake 56 km SW of Lata, Solomon Islands

Saturday, August 2, 1980, 15:47:26 UTC · 11.086°S, 165.433°E

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 56 km SW of Lata, Solomon Islands on Saturday, August 2, 1980, 15:47:26 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on July 29, 1980.

Magnitude: 6.3; Strong · 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: 100 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

43 kilotons of TNT

That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 89 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

41 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 100 km

USGS lists 10 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.3 on August 2, 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 342 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 12 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

1980M7.5
Santa Cruz Islands: Banks
8 Jul 1980 · 180 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1980M7.9
Santa Cruz Islands; Vanuatu
17 Jul 1980 · 168 km away
tsunami
1934M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
18 Jul 1934 · 168 km away
tsunami
1957M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
17 Dec 1957 · 193 km away
1966M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
31 Dec 1966 · 142 km away
tsunami
1909M7.7
Solomon Islands
9 Dec 1909 · 130 km away

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

Nearby trackers