Skip to content
SeismoAtlas

M5.3 earthquake 61 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 61 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia at 14:25 local time (03:25 UTC) on 28 Sept 2026, at a depth of 10 km, according to USGS and GFZ.

Reported by 2 agencies

Data: USGS, GFZ · updated 2026-09-28 05:26 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude
5.3moderate
moment magnitude (W phase) (mww)
Depth
10 km
Status
Reviewed
Origin time
2026-09-28 03:25:06 UTC
Local: 28 Sept 2026, 14:25:06 (Pacific/Noumea)
Epicentre
21.224° S, 168.355° 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. 7,49261 kmIVLight
WéLoyalty Islands, New Caledonia · pop. 10,375119 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 Geosciences5.3 Mw10 km21.05° S, 168.48° E+0.2 sAutomatic
USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey5.3 mww10 km21.22° S, 168.35° E–Reviewed

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

4 later earthquakes within 56 km; the largest was M5.2 14 h ago. 29 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M5.3

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

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)MagnitudeDepth (km)
2.055.110
2.294.610
2.294.910
2.345.210
  1. 5.267 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:45
  2. 5.179 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:28
  3. 4.940 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:42
  4. 4.664 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:42

Did you feel it?

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

How strong was the shaking where you were?

Anonymous. No account, no cookies. A short automatic check runs in your browser instead of a third-party captcha.

Reports on SeismoAtlas

No reports yet.

Event id gfz2026szop. First recorded here 28 Sept 2026, 17:32:06 UTC. Solutions: GFZ (geofon:gfz2026szop); USGS (usgs:us6000ty2b). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M5.3 earthquake 61 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/gfz2026szop-m5-3-earthquake-61-km-ne-of-tadine-loyalty-islands-new-caledonia, data from USGS, GFZ.

JSON: /api/v1/events/gfz2026szop. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.