Reviewed by USGSNew Caledonia46y ago
M4.4 earthquake 247 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia
Friday, November 21, 1980, 05:30:15 UTC · 22.135°S, 170.186°E
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 247 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia on Friday, November 21, 1980, 05:30:15 UTC, at a depth of 54.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 54 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
60 tons of TNT
That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
41 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the New Hebrides and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
54 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 376 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.11920 Vanuatu EarthquakeSeptember 20, 1920 · 298 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.828 km ESE of Isangel, VanuatuJune 16, 1910 · 289 km N of this epicenter
- 7.6274 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaMarch 16, 1928 · 33 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2southeast of the Loyalty IslandsNovember 14, 1906 · 154 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2207 km E of Tadine, New CaledoniaOctober 25, 1980 · 44 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsAugust 17, 1935 · 133 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsApril 14, 1906 · 118 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 26 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1875M8.1
Loyalty Islands: Lifou Island
28 Mar 1875 · 295 km away
26 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1901M7.9
Loyalty Islands
9 Aug 1901 · 24 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1920M8.1
Loyalty Islands
20 Sep 1920 · 298 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1910M7.5
Vanuatu Islands
1 Jun 1910 · 267 km away
- 1928M7.5
Loyalty Islands
16 Mar 1928 · 36 km away
- 1943M7.5
Loyalty Islands
14 Sep 1943 · 85 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.