Reviewed by USGSSolomon Islands16y ago
M4.3 earthquake 168 km S of Lata, Solomon Islands
Sunday, May 23, 2010, 09:46:13 UTC · 12.234°S, 165.586°E
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 168 km S of Lata, Solomon Islands on Sunday, May 23, 2010, 09:46:13 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
43 tons of TNT
That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
17 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 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 1,416 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 · 48 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.8146 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsDecember 31, 1966 · 105 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.8186 km NNW of Sola, VanuatuDecember 17, 1957 · 121 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8196 km NW of Sola, VanuatuOctober 7, 2009 · 92 km E of this epicenter
- 7.7171 km NNW of Sola, VanuatuApril 21, 1997 · 125 km E of this epicenter
- 7.7148 km NW of Sola, VanuatuOctober 7, 2009 · 132 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.7138 km SSE of Lata, Solomon IslandsJuly 18, 1934 · 101 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 24 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 · 271 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1910M7.2
Espiritu Santo
10 Nov 1910 · 220 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1997M7.7
Santa Cruz Islands; Vanuatu
21 Apr 1997 · 125 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1980M7.5
Santa Cruz Islands: Banks
8 Jul 1980 · 89 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1980M7.9
Santa Cruz Islands; Vanuatu
17 Jul 1980 · 48 km away
tsunami
- 1934M7.8
Santa Cruz Islands
18 Jul 1934 · 130 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.