Reviewed by USGSNew Caledonia46y ago
M4.4 earthquake 101 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia
Sunday, November 23, 1980, 08:03:32 UTC · 21.830°S, 168.810°E
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 101 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia on Sunday, November 23, 1980, 08:03:32 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
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
40 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
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 lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.5 on November 29, 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 355 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 · 208 km N of this epicenter
- 7.828 km ESE of Isangel, VanuatuJune 16, 1910 · 259 km N of this epicenter
- 7.6274 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaMarch 16, 1928 · 174 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2southeast of the Loyalty IslandsNovember 14, 1906 · 299 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2207 km E of Tadine, New CaledoniaOctober 25, 1980 · 108 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsAugust 17, 1935 · 279 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsApril 14, 1906 · 264 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 · 206 km away
26 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1901M7.9
Loyalty Islands
9 Aug 1901 · 124 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1920M8.1
Loyalty Islands
20 Sep 1920 · 208 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1913M8.1
Vanuatu Islands
14 Oct 1913 · 260 km away
- 1910M7.5
Vanuatu Islands
1 Jun 1910 · 204 km away
- 1928M7.5
Loyalty Islands
16 Mar 1928 · 175 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.