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M5.5 earthquake 74 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 74 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia at 10:39 local time (23:39 UTC) on 26 Sept 2026, at a depth of 10 km, according to USGS and GFZ.

Reported by 2 agencies

Data: USGS, GFZ · updated 2026-10-18 05:26 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude
5.5moderate
moment magnitude (W phase) (mww)
Depth
10 km
Status
Reviewed
Origin time
2026-09-25 23:39:40 UTC
Local: 26 Sept 2026, 10:39:40 (Pacific/Noumea)
Epicentre
21.340° S, 168.554° E

Circles show this event and others within 71 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map

Nearby places

Distance and estimated shaking at nearby places
PlaceDistanceEst. shaking
TadineLoyalty Islands, New Caledonia · pop. 7,49274 kmIVLight
WéLoyalty Islands, New Caledonia · pop. 10,375142 kmIIIWeak

Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more. Likely felt out to about 219 km.

Every agency's solution

Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS, which has been reviewed by an analyst.

AgencyMagnitudeDepthEpicentreTime offsetStatus
GFZGFZ via GEOFON, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences5.5 Mw10 km21.17° S, 168.52° E+2.9 sAutomatic
USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey5.5 mww10 km21.34° S, 168.55° E–Reviewed · 1 revision

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How big was it?

Felt by most people over a wide area. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre.

It released roughly the energy of 2.7 kt of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 10 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.

M5.5 releases about 32× the energy of M4.5, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 2.7 kt of TNT vs 85 t of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M4.5. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

66 later earthquakes within 71 km; the largest was M5.4 22 days ago. 9 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M5.5

66 later earthquakes nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)MagnitudeDepth (km)
0.225.410
1.424.910
1.515.310
1.634.710
2.304.410
2.624.510
3.394.410
6.195.110
7.475.110
7.715.010
8.755.010
9.244.710
9.464.710
9.474.810
9.514.810
10.694.910
11.204.610
11.944.410
12.524.710
12.585.010
12.595.010
12.595.310
12.644.510
12.684.510
14.154.810
15.375.010
16.454.810
18.764.810
18.944.410
19.904.510
24.604.510
25.655.110
25.994.610
26.184.010
26.294.310
26.314.610
26.715.110
28.884.510
29.464.210
34.454.810
43.434.610
47.024.410
48.764.310
49.014.510
49.134.810
51.604.610
51.765.310
51.834.610
53.815.110
54.044.610
54.054.910
54.105.210
62.554.310
68.074.510
75.745.310
83.055.010
95.654.310
97.644.810
97.824.510
98.254.010
99.304.010
103.175.010
118.544.410
119.554.410
267.174.810
336.994.710
  1. 5.469 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-25 23:52
  2. 5.369 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 01:10
  3. 5.378 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 12:14
  4. 5.372 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 03:25
  5. 5.376 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-29 03:23
  6. 5.267 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:45
  7. 5.165 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 05:50
  8. 5.169 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 07:08
  9. 5.162 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-27 01:18
  10. 5.187 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-27 02:22
  11. 5.179 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:28
  12. 5.084 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 07:22
  13. 5.079 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 08:24
  14. 5.079 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 12:14
  15. 5.083 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 12:14
  16. 5.078 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 15:01
  17. 5.077 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-29 10:42
  18. 5.084 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-30 06:50
  19. 4.987 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 01:04
  20. 4.972 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 10:21
  21. 4.940 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:42
  22. 4.883 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 09:08
  23. 4.881 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 09:10
  24. 4.884 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 13:48
  25. 4.873 km E of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 16:06

Did you feel it?

Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.

Reports close 14 days after an earthquake.

Reports on SeismoAtlas

No reports yet.

Event id gfz2026svqd. First recorded here 28 Sept 2026, 17:32:06 UTC. Solutions: GFZ (geofon:gfz2026svqd); USGS (usgs:us6000txqi). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M5.5 earthquake 74 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/gfz2026svqd-m5-5-earthquake-74-km-ene-of-tadine-loyalty-islands-new-caledonia, data from USGS, GFZ.

JSON: /api/v1/events/gfz2026svqd. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.