QuakeScout
Magnitude4.4

Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands17y ago

M4.4 earthquake 103 km SSW of Lata, Solomon Islands

Sunday, November 1, 2009, 02:33:53 UTC · 11.553°S, 165.349°E

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 103 km SSW of Lata, Solomon Islands on Sunday, November 1, 2009, 02:33:53 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.4
Light · mb
Depth
35 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

60 tons of TNT

That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

4 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

35 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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.9 on November 16, 2009. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.4
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.668 km SW of Lata, Solomon Islands17y ago · 38 km N of this epicenter
  2. 4.9150 km SSW of Lata, Solomon Islands17y ago · 47 km S of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,229 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.9199 km S of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 17, 1980 · 124 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 7.8146 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsDecember 31, 1966 · 127 km E of this epicenter
  3. 7.8186 km NNW of Sola, VanuatuDecember 17, 1957 · 174 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.8196 km NW of Sola, VanuatuOctober 7, 2009 · 155 km SE of this epicenter
  5. 7.7171 km NNW of Sola, VanuatuApril 21, 1997 · 184 km SE of this epicenter
  6. 7.7148 km NW of Sola, VanuatuOctober 7, 2009 · 205 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 7.7138 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 18, 1934 · 120 km E of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 21 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1910M7.2

    Espiritu Santo

    10 Nov 1910 · 299 km away

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  2. 1997M7.7

    Santa Cruz Islands; Vanuatu

    21 Apr 1997 · 184 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  3. 1980M7.5

    Santa Cruz Islands: Banks

    8 Jul 1980 · 147 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  4. 1980M7.9

    Santa Cruz Islands; Vanuatu

    17 Jul 1980 · 124 km away

    tsunami

  5. 1934M7.8

    Santa Cruz Islands

    18 Jul 1934 · 156 km away

    tsunami

  6. 1957M7.8

    Santa Cruz Islands

    17 Dec 1957 · 169 km away

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

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