Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands46y ago
M4.8 earthquake 149 km SSW of Lata, Solomon Islands
Saturday, August 23, 1980, 15:24:29 UTC · 11.886°S, 165.097°E
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 149 km SSW of Lata, Solomon Islands on Saturday, August 23, 1980, 15:24:29 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.2 on August 13, 1980.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- Light · mb
- 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
239 tons of TNT
That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
6 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the African and South American 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 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 401 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 · 114 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.8146 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsDecember 31, 1966 · 150 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8186 km NNW of Sola, VanuatuDecember 17, 1957 · 182 km E of this epicenter
- 7.7138 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 18, 1934 · 143 km E of this epicenter
- 7.5196 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 8, 1980 · 151 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.428 km NW of Lata, Solomon IslandsSeptember 15, 1963 · 163 km N of this epicenter
- 7.496 km SE of Lata, Solomon IslandsFebruary 14, 1972 · 144 km E 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. The most severe:
- 1910M7.2
Espiritu Santo
10 Nov 1910 · 280 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1980M7.5
Santa Cruz Islands: Banks
8 Jul 1980 · 151 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1980M7.9
Santa Cruz Islands; Vanuatu
17 Jul 1980 · 114 km away
tsunami
- 1934M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
18 Jul 1934 · 178 km away
tsunami
- 1957M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
17 Dec 1957 · 180 km away
- 1966M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
31 Dec 1966 · 147 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.