Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands38y ago
M4.8 earthquake 11 km ESE of Tulagi, Solomon Islands
Wednesday, September 7, 1988, 18:58:21 UTC · 9.151°S, 160.247°E
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 11 km ESE of Tulagi, Solomon Islands on Wednesday, September 7, 1988, 18:58:21 UTC, at a depth of 111.7 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on August 31, 1988.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 112 km
- Intermediate
- 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
126 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: intermediate
112 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 407 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8116 km NW of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsOctober 10, 1931 · 118 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.823 km SSE of Malango, Solomon IslandsApril 30, 1939 · 93 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.8108 km SW of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsOctober 3, 1931 · 242 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.656 km W of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsDecember 15, 1935 · 186 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.6121 km W of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsAugust 10, 1988 · 149 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.685 km SE of Honiara, Solomon IslandsFebruary 7, 1984 · 99 km S of this epicenter
- 7.5105 km ESE of Honiara, Solomon IslandsApril 20, 1977 · 100 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.566 km SE of Honiara, Solomon IslandsApril 20, 1977 · 83 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 19 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 115 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1931M7.8
San Cristobal Island
3 Oct 1931 · 215 km away
50 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1977M6.8
Solomon Islands
20 Apr 1977 · 76 km away · intensity VI
34 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1977M8.1
Solomon Islands
21 Apr 1977 · 105 km away · intensity VII
18 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1939M7.9
Solomon Islands
30 Apr 1939 · 112 km away
12 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1988M7.6
San Cristobal, Guadalcanal
10 Aug 1988 · 142 km away
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1984M7.5
Guadalcanal
7 Feb 1984 · 99 km away · intensity VI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.