M4.2 earthquake 182 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands

Monday, November 9, 2009, 21:03:47 UTC · 12.188°S, 166.563°E

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 182 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands on Monday, November 9, 2009, 21:03:47 UTC, at a depth of 161.8 km (intermediate).

Magnitude: 4.2; Light · mb
Depth: 162 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

30 tons of TNT

That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

78 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the African and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: intermediate

162 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 lists 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.6 on November 14, 2009. 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 1,459 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 26 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

1973M7.5
Espiritu Santo, Luganille
28 Dec 1973 · 253 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
1910M7.2
Espiritu Santo
10 Nov 1910 · 202 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
2002M5.9
Mere Lava Island
27 Nov 2002 · 290 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
1997M7.7
Santa Cruz Islands; Vanuatu
21 Apr 1997 · 46 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1980M7.5
Santa Cruz Islands: Banks
8 Jul 1980 · 32 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1980M6.1
Vanuatu Islands
12 May 1980 · 292 km away · intensity VI
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers