M5.3 earthquake 72 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 72 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 2026-10-15 01:21 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
- 21.158° S, 168.439° 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
| Place | Distance | Est. shaking |
|---|---|---|
| TadineLoyalty Islands, New Caledonia · pop. 7,492 | 72 km | IVLight |
| WéLoyalty Islands, New Caledonia · pop. 10,375 | 125 km | IIIWeak |
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.
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
17 later earthquakes within 56 km; the largest was M5.3 18 days ago. 51 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.
Mainshock M5.3
17 later earthquakes nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).
| Time after mainshock (hours) | Magnitude | Depth (km) |
|---|---|---|
| 0.08 | 4.6 | 10 |
| 2.05 | 5.1 | 10 |
| 2.29 | 4.6 | 10 |
| 2.29 | 4.9 | 10 |
| 2.34 | 5.2 | 10 |
| 10.79 | 4.3 | 10 |
| 23.98 | 5.3 | 10 |
| 31.30 | 5.0 | 10 |
| 43.89 | 4.3 | 10 |
| 45.88 | 4.8 | 10 |
| 46.06 | 4.5 | 10 |
| 46.49 | 4.0 | 10 |
| 47.55 | 4.0 | 10 |
| 51.42 | 5.0 | 10 |
| 66.78 | 4.4 | 10 |
| 67.79 | 4.4 | 10 |
| 285.23 | 4.7 | 10 |
- 5.376 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-29 03:23
- 5.267 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:45
- 5.179 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:28
- 5.077 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-29 10:42
- 5.084 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-30 06:50
- 4.940 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:42
- 4.872 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-30 01:17
- 4.786 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia10-10 00:38
- 4.686 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 03:29
- 4.664 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:42
- 4.590 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-30 01:28
- 4.469 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-30 22:12
- 4.477 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-30 23:12
- 4.370 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 14:12
- 4.375 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-29 23:18
- 4.078 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-30 01:54
- 4.078 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-30 02:57
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 gfz2026szop. First recorded here 28 Sept 2026, 17:32:06 UTC. Solutions: GFZ (geofon:gfz2026szop); USGS (usgs:us6000ty2b). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M5.3 earthquake 72 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/gfz2026szop-m5-3-earthquake-72-km-ne-of-tadine-loyalty-islands-new-caledonia, data from USGS, GFZ.
JSON: /api/v1/events/gfz2026szop. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.