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M5.3 earthquake 69 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 69 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia at 12:10 local time (01:10 UTC) on 26 Sept 2026, at a depth of 10 km, according to USGS and GFZ.

Reported by 2 agencies · revised from M5.5

Data: USGS, GFZ · updated 2026-10-13 21:41 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude
5.3moderate
body-wave magnitude (mb)
revised from 5.5
Depth
10 km
Status
Reviewed
Origin time
2026-09-26 01:10:18 UTC
Local: 26 Sept 2026, 12:10:18 (Pacific/Noumea)
Epicentre
21.183° S, 168.415° E

Circles show this event and others within 56 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. 7,49269 kmIVLight
WéLoyalty Islands, New Caledonia · pop. 10,375123 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 176 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 mb10 km21.06° S, 168.83° E−1.3 sAutomatic
USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey5.3 mb10 km21.18° S, 168.41° E–Reviewed · 1 revision

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 1.3 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.

M5.3 releases about 32× the energy of M4.3, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 1.3 kt of TNT vs 43 t of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M4.3. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

60 later earthquakes within 56 km; the largest was M5.3 20 days ago. 7 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M5.3

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

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)MagnitudeDepth (km)
0.124.710
0.794.410
1.114.510
1.884.410
4.675.110
5.965.110
6.205.010
7.245.010
7.734.710
7.954.710
7.964.810
8.004.810
9.184.910
9.684.610
10.434.410
11.014.710
11.075.010
11.085.010
11.085.310
11.134.510
11.174.510
12.644.810
13.855.010
14.944.810
17.254.810
17.434.410
18.394.510
23.094.510
24.145.110
24.484.610
24.784.310
24.804.610
25.205.110
27.374.510
27.954.210
32.944.810
41.914.610
45.514.410
47.254.310
47.504.510
47.624.810
50.094.610
50.255.310
50.324.610
52.305.110
52.534.610
52.544.910
52.595.210
61.044.310
74.235.310
81.545.010
94.144.310
96.124.810
96.314.510
96.744.010
97.794.010
101.665.010
117.034.410
118.044.410
335.484.710
  1. 5.378 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 12:14
  2. 5.372 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 03:25
  3. 5.376 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-29 03:23
  4. 5.267 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:45
  5. 5.165 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 05:50
  6. 5.169 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 07:08
  7. 5.162 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-27 01:18
  8. 5.187 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-27 02:22
  9. 5.179 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:28
  10. 5.084 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 07:22
  11. 5.079 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 08:24
  12. 5.079 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 12:14
  13. 5.083 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 12:14
  14. 5.078 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 15:01
  15. 5.077 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-29 10:42
  16. 5.084 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-30 06:50
  17. 4.972 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 10:21
  18. 4.940 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:42
  19. 4.883 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 09:08
  20. 4.881 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 09:10
  21. 4.884 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 13:48
  22. 4.873 km E of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 16:06
  23. 4.882 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 18:25
  24. 4.871 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-27 10:06
  25. 4.879 km E of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 00:47

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 gfz2026svtd. First recorded here 28 Sept 2026, 17:32:06 UTC. Solutions: GFZ (geofon:gfz2026svtd); USGS (usgs:us6000txqu). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M5.3 earthquake 69 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/gfz2026svtd-m5-3-earthquake-69-km-ne-of-tadine-loyalty-islands-new-caledonia, data from USGS, GFZ.

JSON: /api/v1/events/gfz2026svtd. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.