M5.3 earthquake 108 km NE of Tadine, New Caledonia
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 108 km NE of Tadine, New Caledonia on Wed, Aug 21, 2002, 11:09 PM GMT+11 (12:09 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.3 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2002-08-21 12:09:13 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 20.976° S, 168.732° 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.3 | Mwc, centroid moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.25 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.3 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Normal
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 168°, dip 34°, rake -89°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 347°, dip 56°, rake -91°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Stations used
- 106
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.293 km NE of Tadine, New Caledonia · 8806 days ago · 35 km deep · 15 km away
- 5.2107 km NE of Tadine, New Caledonia · 8801 days ago · 33 km deep · 3 km away
- 4.884 km SSW of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8793 days ago · 33 km deep · 86 km away
- 4.780 km SW of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8793 days ago · 33 km deep · 95 km away
- 4.480 km SSW of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8793 days ago · 33 km deep · 93 km away
- 5.082 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 8791 days ago · 33 km deep · 53 km away
- 4.375 km SW of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8773 days ago · 33 km deep · 99 km away
- 4.6167 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 8767 days ago · 33 km deep · 93 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayNew Caledonia earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000babe (also filed as gcmtb082102b, gcmt20020821120914, iscgem3261711). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 4:08 PM UTC.