M4.7 earthquake 50 km SE of Gizo, Solomon Islands

Sunday, June 3, 2007, 14:02:46 UTC · 8.436°S, 157.159°E

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 50 km SE of Gizo, Solomon Islands on Sunday, June 3, 2007, 14:02:46 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on May 26, 2007.

Magnitude: 4.7; 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

169 tons of TNT

That is about 1/89 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 3 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

32 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific 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 June 28, 2007. 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 679 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 13 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 69 recorded deaths. The most severe:

2007M8.1
Solomon Islands
1 Apr 2007 · 13 km away
52 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1939M7.9
Solomon Islands
30 Apr 1939 · 247 km away
12 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1939M7.7
Bougainville Island
30 Jan 1939 · 247 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1959M7.3
Solomon Islands
17 Aug 1959 · 165 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1974M7.1
Solomon Islands
1 Feb 1974 · 207 km away · intensity VI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1926M6.9
Solomon Islands
16 Sep 1926 · 293 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers