M5.4 earthquake 175 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 175 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia on Thu, Jul 23, 1981, 5:20 PM GMT+11 (06:20 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.

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

Mont-Dore forecast More 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: 5.4 (mb, body-wave), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Thu, Jul 23, 1981, 5:20 PM GMT+11
UTC: 1981-07-23 06:20:51 UTC
Depth: 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 21.580° S, 169.575° E
Region: New Caledonia
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.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
5.4	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · 12 stations
5.53	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.46

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: OPERATOR_ASSIGNED

Nearest places

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

Mont-Dore, New CaledoniaPopulation 24,680. Forecast320 kmENE

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.4 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 7 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today New Caledonia earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001evx (also filed as iscgem624135). Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 10:23 AM UTC.