QuakeScout
Magnitude4.1

Reviewed by USGSNew Caledonia30y ago

M4.1 earthquake 188 km ESE of Vao, New Caledonia

Saturday, March 16, 1996, 17:36:01 UTC · 23.018°S, 169.294°E

A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 188 km ESE of Vao, New Caledonia on Saturday, March 16, 1996, 17:36:01 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

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

92 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M3.8 on April 14, 1996. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M41h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.1
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 3.8180 km ESE of Vao, New Caledonia30y ago · 17 km SW of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 559 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 · 62 km E of this epicenter
  2. 7.6274 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaMarch 16, 1928 · 135 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.2southeast of the Loyalty IslandsNovember 14, 1906 · 244 km E of this epicenter
  4. 7.2207 km E of Tadine, New CaledoniaOctober 25, 1980 · 138 km NE of this epicenter
  5. 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsAugust 17, 1935 · 237 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsApril 14, 1906 · 223 km E of this epicenter
  7. 7.1175 km SE of Isangel, VanuatuMarch 30, 1910 · 277 km NE of this epicenter

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:

  1. 1901M7.9

    Loyalty Islands

    9 Aug 1901 · 134 km away

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  2. 1995M7.7

    Noumea; Vanuatu: Port-Vila

    16 May 1995 · 62 km away · intensity III

    tsunami

  3. 1928M7.5

    Loyalty Islands

    16 Mar 1928 · 168 km away

  4. 1943M7.5

    Loyalty Islands

    14 Sep 1943 · 209 km away

  5. 1944M7.5

    Loyalty Islands

    5 Oct 1944 · 283 km away

  6. 1994M7.0

    Vanuatu Islands

    12 Feb 1994 · 274 km away

    tsunami

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

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