Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands30y ago
M4.3 earthquake 121 km NW of Gizo, Solomon Islands
Monday, December 16, 1996, 21:03:22 UTC · 7.332°S, 156.062°E
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 121 km NW of Gizo, Solomon Islands on Monday, December 16, 1996, 21:03:22 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- 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
43 tons of TNT
That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
50 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and Woodlark 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 847 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.956 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 139 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.885 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 30, 1939 · 79 km W of this epicenter
- 7.794 km SSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 104 km W of this epicenter
- 7.7155 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaAugust 16, 1995 · 269 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.361 km NW of Gizo, Solomon IslandsApril 19, 1936 · 61 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2155 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaOctober 19, 1949 · 270 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.2282 km SW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaOctober 23, 1974 · 254 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.2143 km W of Gizo, Solomon IslandsJuly 29, 1977 · 97 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 6 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1939M7.7
Bougainville Island
30 Jan 1939 · 80 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1996M7.2
Bougainville Island
29 Apr 1996 · 148 km away
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1975M7.9
Bismarck Sea: Bougainville
20 Jul 1975 · 139 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1959M7.3
Solomon Islands
17 Aug 1959 · 20 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1974M7.1
Solomon Islands
1 Feb 1974 · 52 km away · intensity VI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1995M7.7
Rabaul, Kokopo, New Britain
16 Aug 1995 · 269 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.