Reviewed by USGSNew Caledonia31y ago
M3.9 earthquake 112 km ENE of Vao, New Caledonia
Tuesday, July 4, 1995, 18:13:49 UTC · 22.457°S, 168.571°E
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck 112 km ENE of Vao, New Caledonia on Tuesday, July 4, 1995, 18:13:49 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.9
- Minor · 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
11 tons of TNT
That is about 1/1,410 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 45 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
98 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 557 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 · 275 km N of this epicenter
- 7.7249 km E of Vao, New CaledoniaMay 16, 1995 · 149 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.6274 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaMarch 16, 1928 · 188 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2207 km E of Tadine, New CaledoniaOctober 25, 1980 · 146 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsAugust 17, 1935 · 298 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsApril 14, 1906 · 284 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1175 km SE of Isangel, VanuatuMarch 30, 1910 · 268 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 9 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 · 273 km away
26 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1901M7.9
Loyalty Islands
9 Aug 1901 · 156 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1920M8.1
Loyalty Islands
20 Sep 1920 · 275 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1995M7.7
Noumea; Vanuatu: Port-Vila
16 May 1995 · 149 km away · intensity III
tsunami
- 1910M7.5
Vanuatu Islands
1 Jun 1910 · 277 km away
- 1928M7.5
Loyalty Islands
16 Mar 1928 · 205 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.