Reviewed by USGS29y ago
M3.9 earthquake southeast of the Loyalty Islands
Sunday, January 4, 1998, 08:04:17 UTC · 22.687°S, 170.614°E
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck southeast of the Loyalty Islands on Sunday, January 4, 1998, 08:04:17 UTC, at a depth of 100.0 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 3.9
- Minor · mb
- Depth
- 100 km
- Intermediate
- 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
17 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: intermediate
100 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 598 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.7249 km E of Vao, New CaledoniaMay 16, 1995 · 81 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6274 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaMarch 16, 1928 · 43 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.5southeast of the Loyalty IslandsJanuary 4, 1998 · 53 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2southeast of the Loyalty IslandsNovember 14, 1906 · 104 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2207 km E of Tadine, New CaledoniaOctober 25, 1980 · 118 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsAugust 17, 1935 · 97 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsApril 14, 1906 · 85 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:
- 1901M7.9
Loyalty Islands
9 Aug 1901 · 99 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1995M7.7
Noumea; Vanuatu: Port-Vila
16 May 1995 · 81 km away · intensity III
tsunami
- 1928M7.5
Loyalty Islands
16 Mar 1928 · 77 km away
- 1943M7.5
Loyalty Islands
14 Sep 1943 · 86 km away
- 1944M7.5
Loyalty Islands
5 Oct 1944 · 144 km away
- 1994M7.0
Vanuatu Islands
12 Feb 1994 · 270 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.