New Caledonia earthquakes

M4.8 earthquake 170 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 170 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia on Thu, Jul 23, 1981, 3:10 AM GMT+11 (16:10 UTC), 36 km (22 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M6.2 181 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia. This one was a foreshock.

Mont-Dore forecastMore in New Caledonia

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude
4.8 (mb, body-wave), light
Magnitude from
USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time
UTC
1981-07-22 16:10:22 UTC
Depth
36.0 km (22.4 mi), shallow
Epicenter
21.636° S, 169.524° E
Tsunami flag
No
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

Magnitude estimates

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.ScaleComputed byNotes
4.8mb, body-waveUSGS National Earthquake Information CenterPreferred · Reviewed · 6 stations
5.44Mw, momentISC-GEM global catalogFinal · ±0.2

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from
CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.8 and up: 14 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 4.5111 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16510 days ago · 30 km deep · 66 km away
  2. 4.7171 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16510 days ago · 25 km deep · 9 km away
  3. 4.7164 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16510 days ago · 33 km deep · 13 km away
  4. 5.6170 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16510 days ago · 33 km deep · 5 km away
  5. 5.4175 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16509 days ago · 33 km deep · 8 km away
  6. 4.3183 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16509 days ago · 33 km deep · 29 km away
  7. 5.0170 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16505 days ago · 33 km deep · 12 km away
  8. 4.7210 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16504 days ago · 33 km deep · 56 km away
  9. 6.2181 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16504 days ago · 40 km deep · 11 km away
  10. 4.3175 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16473 days ago · 33 km deep · 5 km away
  11. 6.2178 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16464 days ago · 31 km deep · 18 km away
  12. 4.6169 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16460 days ago · 33 km deep · 8 km away
  13. 4.6172 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16460 days ago · 33 km deep · 10 km away
  14. 3.8150 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16450 days ago · 33 km deep · 42 km away

Before

  1. 4.6176 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16524 days ago · 33 km deep · 69 km away
  2. 4.3152 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16534 days ago · 33 km deep · 25 km away
  3. 4.5156 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16540 days ago · 33 km deep · 30 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001ev8 (also filed as iscgem624103). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 1:54 PM UTC.