Reviewed by USGSNew Caledonia46y ago
M4.8 earthquake 278 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia
Thursday, January 15, 1981, 18:14:51 UTC · 22.091°S, 170.511°E
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 278 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia on Thursday, January 15, 1981, 18:14:51 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.2 on January 6, 1981.
- 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
68 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 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 374 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.828 km ESE of Isangel, VanuatuJune 16, 1910 · 294 km N of this epicenter
- 7.6274 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaMarch 16, 1928 · 32 km S of this epicenter
- 7.2southeast of the Loyalty IslandsNovember 14, 1906 · 124 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2207 km E of Tadine, New CaledoniaOctober 25, 1980 · 71 km W of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsAugust 17, 1935 · 101 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsApril 14, 1906 · 87 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1175 km SE of Isangel, VanuatuMarch 30, 1910 · 151 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1901M7.9
Loyalty Islands
9 Aug 1901 · 54 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1910M7.5
Vanuatu Islands
1 Jun 1910 · 280 km away
- 1928M7.5
Loyalty Islands
16 Mar 1928 · 10 km away
- 1943M7.5
Loyalty Islands
14 Sep 1943 · 51 km away
- 1944M7.5
Loyalty Islands
5 Oct 1944 · 160 km away
- 1972M7.0
Loyalty Islands: Tanna, Anatom
2 Nov 1972 · 293 km away · intensity V
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.