southeast of the Loyalty Islands

49 days ago

USGS

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck southeast of the Loyalty Islands on 13 Sept 2026, 07:30 UTC. The hypocentre was 98.8 km below the surface — intermediate by seismological convention. No felt reports have been received so far.

Depth: 98.8 km
Latitude: 22.23°S
Time: 07:30 UTC
Magnitude: M5.0

EPICENTRE

View the official report↗

MAGNITUDE 5.0

Can damage poorly constructed buildings; well-built structures usually escape with little harm.

The scale is logarithmic: this released about 32 times the energy of a magnitude 4.0, roughly the energy of 477 tonnes of TNT.

98.8 KM DEEP

At this depth the energy spreads before it reaches the surface. Shaking is usually weaker than a shallow earthquake of the same size, but it can be felt across a wider area.