QuakeScout
Magnitude4.1

Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands35y ago

M4.1 earthquake 102 km WNW of Malango, Solomon Islands

Tuesday, October 15, 1991, 18:47:57 UTC · 9.271°S, 158.888°E

A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 102 km WNW of Malango, Solomon Islands on Tuesday, October 15, 1991, 18:47:57 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.1
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

21 tons of TNT

That is about 1/707 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 22 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

34 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific 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 371 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.8116 km NW of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsOctober 10, 1931 · 253 km E of this epicenter
  2. 7.823 km SSE of Malango, Solomon IslandsApril 30, 1939 · 123 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 7.6121 km W of Kirakira, Solomon IslandsAugust 10, 1988 · 244 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.685 km SE of Honiara, Solomon IslandsFebruary 7, 1984 · 192 km SE of this epicenter
  5. 7.5105 km ESE of Honiara, Solomon IslandsApril 20, 1977 · 221 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.566 km SE of Honiara, Solomon IslandsApril 20, 1977 · 174 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 7.5103 km SE of Honiara, Solomon IslandsApril 21, 1977 · 216 km E of this epicenter
  8. 7.562 km SW of Malango, Solomon IslandsJanuary 25, 1926 · 98 km SE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 20 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 115 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1931M7.8

    San Cristobal Island

    3 Oct 1931 · 297 km away

    50 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  2. 1977M6.8

    Solomon Islands

    20 Apr 1977 · 169 km away · intensity VI

    34 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  3. 1977M8.1

    Solomon Islands

    21 Apr 1977 · 216 km away · intensity VII

    18 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  4. 1939M7.9

    Solomon Islands

    30 Apr 1939 · 38 km away

    12 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  5. 1988M7.6

    San Cristobal, Guadalcanal

    10 Aug 1988 · 246 km away

    1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  6. 1984M7.5

    Guadalcanal

    7 Feb 1984 · 192 km away · intensity VI

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

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