M4.5 earthquake 273 km E of Vao, New Caledonia

Tuesday, September 5, 1995, 19:49:30 UTC · 22.974°S, 170.142°E

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 273 km E of Vao, New Caledonia on Tuesday, September 5, 1995, 19:49:30 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.5 on August 22, 1995.

Magnitude: 4.5; 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

85 tons of TNT

That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

35 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 5 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.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 546 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

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 · 109 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1995M7.7
Noumea; Vanuatu: Port-Vila
16 May 1995 · 25 km away · intensity III
tsunami
1928M7.5
Loyalty Islands
16 Mar 1928 · 114 km away
1943M7.5
Loyalty Islands
14 Sep 1943 · 140 km away
1944M7.5
Loyalty Islands
5 Oct 1944 · 198 km away
1994M7.0
Vanuatu Islands
12 Feb 1994 · 281 km away
tsunami

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

Nearby trackers