Reviewed by USGS46y ago
M5.1 earthquake in Santa Cruz Islands
Sunday, August 10, 1980, 02:29:48 UTC · 10.991°S, 165.306°E
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck in Santa Cruz Islands on Sunday, August 10, 1980, 02:29:48 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.1 on August 3, 1980.
- Magnitude
- 5.1
- Moderate · ms
- Depth
- 33 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: 75 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
674 tons of TNT
That is about 1/22 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
42 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 75 km
USGS lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.0 on August 10, 1980. 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 327 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.9199 km S of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 17, 1980 · 183 km S of this epicenter
- 7.8146 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsDecember 31, 1966 · 160 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.8186 km NNW of Sola, VanuatuDecember 17, 1957 · 218 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.7138 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 18, 1934 · 152 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5196 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 8, 1980 · 196 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.428 km NW of Lata, Solomon IslandsSeptember 15, 1963 · 64 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.496 km SE of Lata, Solomon IslandsFebruary 14, 1972 · 122 km SE of this epicenter
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 · 196 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1980M7.9
Santa Cruz Islands; Vanuatu
17 Jul 1980 · 183 km away
tsunami
- 1934M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
18 Jul 1934 · 186 km away
tsunami
- 1957M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
17 Dec 1957 · 210 km away
- 1966M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
31 Dec 1966 · 160 km away
tsunami
- 1909M7.7
Solomon Islands
9 Dec 1909 · 115 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.