List of earthquakes in the Solomon Islands archipelago

Last updated

This is a list of earthquakes in the Solomon Islands archipelago, which includes the nation state of Solomon Islands and Bougainville within Papua New Guinea. Only earthquakes over magnitude 8 are included unless they result in damage and/or casualties. Earthquakes from other regions that were strongly felt in the area are also be included.

Contents

Background

The Australian Woodlark, Solomon Sea and Pacific Plates are converging at a rate of 97 mm/yr. [1] The earthquake was a result of interaction between the Australian and Pacific Plates along a subduction zone. Subduction of the Australian Plate has also given rise to volcanoes in the region. This region of the world lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, where 90 percent of all earthquake and volcanic activity is concentrated here. [2]

Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though some resistant structures exist. The predominant vulnerable building types are adobe walls and informal construction. [3]

List of earthquakes

DateRegion Mag. MMI DeathsInjuriesCommentsRef
2022-11-22 Guadalcanal 7.0 Mw VII4Moderate damage [4] [5]
2021-10-15 Rendova 6.4 Mw VI1Moderate damage [6] [7] [8]
2017-01-22 Bougainville 7.9 Mw IX32Damage/power outages [9] [10]
2016-12-17 Bougainville 7.9 Mw VIIIPower outages [11]
2016-12-08 Makira 7.8 Mw VIII1Major damage/tsunami [12] [13]
2014-04-11 Bougainville 7.1 Mw VII1Major damage [14] [15]
2013-02-06 Nendö 8.0 Mw VIII1417Major damage/tsunami [16] [17]
2012-07-25 Guadalcanal 6.4 Mw VIISevere damage [18]
2010-01-03 Rendova 7.1 Mw VISeveralMajor damage/tsunami [19]
2007-04-01 Ghizo 8.1 Mw VIII112Major damage/tsunami [20] [21]
1997-04-21 Torba 7.7 Mw VIITsunami [22]
1996-04-29 Bougainville 7.2 Mw VIII1Moderate damage [23]
1995-08-16 Bougainville 7.7 Mw VIIMinor damage/landslides [24]
1988-08-10 Makira 7.6 Mw VII1Tsunami [25]
1984-02-07 Guadalcanal 7.6 Mw VIIIMinor damage/Landslides [26]
1983-03-18 New Britain 7.6 Mw VIIModerate damage/landslides [27]
1977-04-20 Guadalcanal 6.7 Mw VII34Major damage/tsunami [28] [29]
1977-04-21 Guadalcanal 7.5 Mw VII181Major damage [30] [31]
1975-07-20 Bougainville 7.9 Mw VIIIMajor damage/tsunami [32]
1975-02-04 Bougainville 7.1 Mw IXMinor damage/tsunami [33]
1971-07-26 New Ireland 8.1 Mw VI35Moderate damage/tsunami [34] [35]
1971-07-14 8.0 Mw IX [36]
1959-08-17 Rendova 7.0 Mw VIMajor damage [37]
1939-04-30 Guadalcanal 7.8 Mw VII12Moderate damage/tsunami [38] [39]
1939-01-30 Bougainville 7.8 Mw VII5101Moderate damage [40] [41]
1931-10-03 Makira 7.9 Mw VI50Major damage/tsunami [42] [43]
1919-05-06 Bougainville 7.8 Mw VIIMinor damage [44] [45]
Note: The inclusion criteria for adding events are based on WikiProject Earthquakes' notability guideline that was developed for stand alone articles. The principles described also apply to lists. In summary, only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lists of earthquakes</span>

Earthquakes are caused by movements within the Earth's crust and uppermost mantle. They range from weak events detectable only by seismometers, to sudden and violent events lasting many minutes which have caused some of the greatest disasters in human history. Below, earthquakes are listed by period, region or country, year, magnitude, cost, fatalities, and number of scientific studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Solomon Islands earthquakes</span> Seismic events

On 9 December 2016 at 4:38 a.m. local time, the Solomon Islands region was rocked by an Mww 7.8 earthquake, centred 30 km off San Cristobal Island, about 61 km southwest of Kirakira, the capital of Makira-Ulawa Province. Initially registering magnitude 8.0, later downgraded to 7.8, the temblor prompted tsunami warnings that kept countries surrounding the Coral, Tasman and Solomon Sea on high alert, but was later cancelled. A large aftershock of magnitude 6.9 occurred shortly afterwards. This earthquake was largely felt, waking many residents who later ran to high ground for fears of a potential tsunami. The earthquake killed a child and affected some 34,000 people in Makira, South Malaita and Guadalcanal Island where many had lost their homes or had no access to basic needs. Earthquakes are common in this region, with little or no fatalities. This earthquake is tied with three other magnitude 7.8 earthquakes for the second largest earthquake of 2016. On 17 December, Solomon Islands would be rattled again by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake, this time 54 km east of Taron, Papua New Guinea.

References

  1. ↑ Kaustubh Thirumalai, Frederick W. Taylor, Chuan-Chou Shen, Luc L. Lavier, Cliff Frohlich, Laura M. Wallace, Chung-Che Wu, Hailong Sun & Alison K. Papabatu (30 June 2015). "Variable Holocene deformation above a shallow subduction zone extremely close to the trench". Nature Communications. 6: 7607. Bibcode:2015NatCo...6.7607T. doi: 10.1038/ncomms8607 . PMC   4491809 . PMID   26123872. S2CID   8275538.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ Hanna, O'Sullivan, Jason, Donnie (8 December 2016). "Solomon Islands tsunami threat over after 7.8 quake". CNN. Retrieved 1 December 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ "PAGER". US Geological Survey. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  4. ↑ "M 7.0 - 18 km SW of Malango, Solomon Islands". earthquake.usgs.gov. 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  5. ↑ Government, Solomon Islands (23 November 2022). "ISO confirms no Significant Damage". Einnews.com.
  6. ↑ "M 6.4 - 146 km WSW of Buala, Solomon Islands". earthquake.usgs.gov. United States Geological Survey.
  7. ↑ Pacific, Loop (2021-10-15). "Houses collapse following 6.6 magnitude earthquake in Solomons". Loop PNG. Retrieved 2021-10-19.
  8. ↑ "Houses collapse following 6.6 magnitude earthquake in Solomons". Adventist World. 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
  9. ↑ "M 7.9 - 35km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea". earthquake.usgs.gov. USGS. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  10. ↑ Aloysius Laukai (24 January 2017). "240117QUAKE HITS BOUGAINVILLE". NEW DAWN ON BOUGAINVILLE. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  11. ↑ "M 7.9 - 54km E of Taron, Papua New Guinea". earthquake.usgs.gov. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "M 7.8 – 69km WSW of Kirakira, Solomon Islands". US Geological Survey. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  13. ↑ "Solomon Islands: Earthquake – Dec 2016" . Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  14. ↑ "M7.1 - 56km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea". United States Geological Survey. April 11, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Authorities assess earthquake damage in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands". ABC News. 2014-04-14.
  16. ↑ "M 8.0 - 75 km W of Lata, Solomon Islands". United States Geological Survey. February 6, 2013. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  17. ↑ Nicole Pryor And Agencies (2013-02-07). "Airport damage hits Solomons quake cleanup". Fairfax New Zealand Limited. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  18. ↑ "M 6.4 - 1 km E of Malango, Solomon Islands". earthquake.usgs.gov. USGS. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  19. ↑ "M 7.1 - 94 km SE of Gizo, Solomon Islands". earthquake.usgs.gov. USGS. 3 January 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  20. ↑ "M 8.1 - 45 km SSE of Gizo, Solomon Islands". earthquake.usgs.gov. USGS. 3 January 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  21. ↑ "Report: Tsunami leaves thousands homeless in the hills". News Limited. 2 April 2007. Archived from the original on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 3 April 2007.
  22. ↑ USGS. "M 7.7 - Santa Cruz Islands". United States Geological Survey.
  23. ↑ "M 7.2 - 58 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea".
  24. ↑ "M 7.7 - Panguna, Papua New Guinea".
  25. ↑ "M 7.6 - Solomon Islands".
  26. ↑ "M 7.6 - Solomon Islands".
  27. ↑ "M 7.6 - 157 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea". United States Geological Survey. March 18, 1983. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  28. ↑ "M 6.7 - Solomon Islands". United States Geological Survey. April 20, 1977. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  29. ↑ "Significant Earthquake: SOLOMON ISLANDS". National Geophysical Data Center. April 20, 1977. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  30. ↑ "M 7.5 - Solomon Islands". United States Geological Survey. April 21, 1977. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  31. ↑ "Significant Earthquake: SOLOMON ISLANDS". National Geophysical Data Center. April 21, 1977. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  32. ↑ "M 7.9 - Bougainville region, Papua New Guinea". United States Geological Survey. July 20, 1975. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  33. ↑ "M 7.1 - Solomon Islands". United States Geological Survey. February 1, 1974. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  34. ↑ "M 8.1 - New Ireland region, Papua New Guinea". United States Geological Survey. July 26, 1971. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
  35. ↑ "Significant Earthquake: PAPUA NEW GUINEA: NEW IRELAND: BOUGAINVILLE". National Geophysical Data Center. July 14, 1971. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  36. ↑ "M 8.0 - New Ireland region, Papua New Guinea". United States Geological Survey. July 14, 1971. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
  37. ↑ "M 7.0 - Solomon Islands". United States Geological Survey. August 17, 1959. Retrieved February 5, 2017.
  38. ↑ "M 7.8 - Solomon Islands". United States Geological Survey. April 30, 1939. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  39. ↑ "Significant Earthquake: SOLOMON ISLANDS". National Geophysical Data Center. April 30, 1939. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  40. ↑ "M 7.8 - Solomon Islands". United States Geological Survey. January 30, 1939. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  41. ↑ "Significant Earthquake: PAPUA NEW GUINEA: BOUGAINVILLE ISLAND". National Geophysical Data Center. January 30, 1939. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
  42. ↑ "M 7.9 - Solomon Islands". United States Geological Survey. October 3, 1931. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  43. ↑ "Significant Earthquake: SOLOMON ISLANDS: SAN CRISTOBAL ISLAND". National Geophysical Data Center. October 3, 1931. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  44. ↑ "M 7.8 - New Ireland region, Papua New Guinea". United States Geological Survey. May 6, 1919. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
  45. ↑ "Significant Earthquake: PAPUA NEW GUINEA: SOLOMON ISLANDS". National Geophysical Data Center. May 6, 1919. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.