Reviewed by USGSVanuatu17y ago
M4.4 earthquake 175 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu
Saturday, November 21, 2009, 01:00:14 UTC · 12.714°S, 166.453°E
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 175 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu on Saturday, November 21, 2009, 01:00:14 UTC, at a depth of 40.1 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 40 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
61 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
40 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 4 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.7 on November 23, 2009. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,634 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.9199 km S of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 17, 1980 · 62 km W of this epicenter
- 7.8146 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsDecember 31, 1966 · 94 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8186 km NNW of Sola, VanuatuDecember 17, 1957 · 41 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.8196 km NW of Sola, VanuatuOctober 7, 2009 · 23 km N of this epicenter
- 7.745 km NNE of Port-Olry, VanuatuMay 20, 1965 · 230 km S of this epicenter
- 7.7171 km NNW of Sola, VanuatuApril 21, 1997 · 28 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7148 km NW of Sola, VanuatuOctober 7, 2009 · 33 km S of this epicenter
- 7.7138 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 18, 1934 · 100 km N of this epicenter
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 · 195 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1910M7.2
Espiritu Santo
10 Nov 1910 · 143 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1973M7.2
Luganville, Lamap
29 Dec 1973 · 272 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 2002M5.9
Mere Lava Island
27 Nov 2002 · 247 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1997M7.7
Santa Cruz Islands; Vanuatu
21 Apr 1997 · 28 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1980M7.5
Santa Cruz Islands: Banks
8 Jul 1980 · 35 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.