Moderate mag. 5.0 earthquake - Coral Sea, 94 km southeast of Lata, Solomon Islands, on Tuesday, 29 Dec 2020 7:03 am (GMT +11) -

Moderate mag. 5.0 earthquake - Coral Sea, 94 km southeast of Lata, Solomon Islands, on Tuesday, 29 Dec 2020 7:03 am (GMT +11)

Moderate magnitude 5.0 earthquake at 59 km depth

28 Dec 20:22 UTC: First to report: USGS after 19 minutes.
28 Dec 21:46: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 64.6 to 58.6 km (from 40 to 36 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 2.5 km (1.5 mi) towards NW.
Update Mon, 28 Dec 2020, 20:27
Significant 5.0 quake hits near Lata, Santa Cruz Islands, Temotu Province, Solomon Islands
5.0 quake 29 Dec 7:03 am (GMT +11)
5.0 quake 29 Dec 7:03 am (GMT +11)
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported a magnitude 5.0 quake in the Solomon Islands near Lata, Santa Cruz Islands, Temotu Province, only 24 minutes ago. The earthquake hit in the morning on Tuesday 29 December 2020 at 7:03 am local time at a moderately shallow depth of 64.6 km. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by Geoscience Australia (GeoAu), which listed it as a magnitude 5.0 earthquake as well. A third agency, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), reported the same quake at magnitude 5.0.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Lata (pop. 550) located 96 km from the epicenter.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.
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Earthquake data:

Date & time: 28 Dec 2020 20:03:27 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Tuesday, 29 Dec 2020 7:03 am (GMT +11)
Magnitude: 5
Depth: 58.6 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 11.3958°S / 166.3213°E (Coral Sea, Solomon Islands)
Nearest volcano: Tinakula (129 km / 80 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
94 km (58 mi) SE of Lata (Santa Cruz Islands) (pop: 553) --> See nearby quakes!
306 km (190 mi) NNW of Sola (Vanuatu) (pop: 1,170) --> See nearby quakes!
195 km (121 mi) N of North Island (pop: 269) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Overcast Clouds 29.3°C (85 F), humidity: 67%, wind: 4 m/s (7 kts) from N
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 2 x 1012 joules (554 megawatt hours, equivalent to 477 tons of TNT) More info
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Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
MagnitudeDepthLocationSource
M 5.059 km93 Km SE of Lata, Solomon IslandsUSGS
M 5.059 kmSANTA CRUZ ISLANDS, Solomon IslandsEMSC
M 4.867 kmSanta Cruz Islands, Solomon IslandsGeoAu
M 5.052 kmSanta Cruz Islands, Solomon IslandsGFZ

User reports for this quake

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
There are no user reports for this quake yet. If you felt it be the first to report it!
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Aftershocks

More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (0 quakes):
So far, no aftershocks have been registered.
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Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900


Map of earlier quakes

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