QuakeScout
Magnitude4.2

Reviewed by USGSNew Caledonia31y ago

M4.2 earthquake 261 km ESE of Vao, New Caledonia

Saturday, September 2, 1995, 18:49:24 UTC · 23.323°S, 169.951°E

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 261 km ESE of Vao, New Caledonia on Saturday, September 2, 1995, 18:49:24 UTC, at a depth of 10.4 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.2
Light · mb
Depth
10 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

30 tons of TNT

That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

78 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

10 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 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on September 12, 1995. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.2
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.3233 km E of Vao, New Caledonia31y ago · 44 km NW of this epicenter
  2. 4.6southeast of the Loyalty Islands31y ago · 43 km E of this epicenter
  3. 4.6241 km E of Vao, New Caledonia31y ago · 47 km N of this epicenter
  4. 4.8292 km E of Vao, New Caledonia31y ago · 49 km NE of this epicenter
  5. 4.4293 km ESE of Vao, New Caledonia31y ago · 32 km E of this epicenter
  6. 4.5273 km E of Vao, New Caledonia31y ago · 43 km NE of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 499 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.7249 km E of Vao, New CaledoniaMay 16, 1995 · 35 km N of this epicenter
  2. 7.6274 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaMarch 16, 1928 · 116 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.2southeast of the Loyalty IslandsNovember 14, 1906 · 191 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 7.2207 km E of Tadine, New CaledoniaOctober 25, 1980 · 160 km N of this epicenter
  5. 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsAugust 17, 1935 · 192 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsApril 14, 1906 · 182 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 7.1175 km SE of Isangel, VanuatuMarch 30, 1910 · 291 km N of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1901M7.9

    Loyalty Islands

    9 Aug 1901 · 147 km away

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  2. 1995M7.7

    Noumea; Vanuatu: Port-Vila

    16 May 1995 · 35 km away · intensity III

    tsunami

  3. 1928M7.5

    Loyalty Islands

    16 Mar 1928 · 158 km away

  4. 1943M7.5

    Loyalty Islands

    14 Sep 1943 · 182 km away

  5. 1944M7.5

    Loyalty Islands

    5 Oct 1944 · 229 km away

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

Nearby trackers

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