Reviewed by USGSNew Caledonia15y ago
M4.6 earthquake 83 km ENE of Tadine, New Caledonia
Thursday, January 20, 2011, 18:28:35 UTC · 21.368°S, 168.666°E
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 83 km ENE of Tadine, New Caledonia on Thursday, January 20, 2011, 18:28:35 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on January 20, 2011.
- Magnitude
- 4.6
- 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
120 tons of TNT
That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
25 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the New Hebrides 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 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 1,309 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.11920 Vanuatu EarthquakeSeptember 20, 1920 · 155 km N of this epicenter
- 7.828 km ESE of Isangel, VanuatuJune 16, 1910 · 217 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7249 km E of Vao, New CaledoniaMay 16, 1995 · 222 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.663 km NW of Isangel, VanuatuOctober 14, 1913 · 256 km N of this epicenter
- 7.6274 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaMarch 16, 1928 · 210 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5southeast of the Loyalty IslandsJanuary 4, 1998 · 254 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.447 km NW of Isangel, VanuatuOctober 11, 1992 · 238 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, which together caused about 26 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1875M8.1
Loyalty Islands: Lifou Island
28 Mar 1875 · 153 km away
26 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1901M7.9
Loyalty Islands
9 Aug 1901 · 155 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1920M8.1
Loyalty Islands
20 Sep 1920 · 155 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1878M7.5
Tanna Island
10 Jan 1878 · 264 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 2010M7.3
Vanuatu Islands
25 Dec 2010 · 200 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1913M8.1
Vanuatu Islands
14 Oct 1913 · 211 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.