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M6.6 earthquake 81 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia

A magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck 81 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia at 08:23 local time (21:23 UTC) on 26 Sept 2026, at a depth of 10 km, according to USGS, JMA, INGV and GFZ.

Reported by 4 agencies · revised from M7.0 · 11 reports to USGS “Did You Feel It?”

Data: USGS, JMA, INGV, GFZ · updated 2026-09-26 21:30 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude
6.6strong
moment magnitude (W phase) (mww)
revised from 7.0
Depth
10 km
Status
Reviewed
Origin time
2026-09-25 21:23:03 UTC
Local: 26 Sept 2026, 08:23:03 (Pacific/Noumea)
Epicentre
21.298° S, 168.610° E

Circles show this event and others within 252 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. 7,49281 kmVModerate
WéLoyalty Islands, New Caledonia · pop. 10,375146 kmVModerate

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 716 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
JMAJMA via Japan Meteorological Agency7.0 Mj0 km21.20° S, 168.50° E−3.3 sAutomatic
INGVSURVEY-INGV-A via Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia6.5 Mwp11.7 km21.21° S, 168.72° E+1.9 sAutomatic
GFZGFZ via GEOFON, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences6.7 Mw10 km21.21° S, 168.69° E+0.3 sAutomatic
USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey6.6 mww10 km21.30° S, 168.61° E–Reviewed

How big was it?

Can cause damage over tens of kilometres, depending on depth, local ground and how buildings are built.

It released roughly the energy of 120 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.

M6.6 releases about 32× the energy of M5.6, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 120 kt of TNT vs 3.8 kt of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M5.6. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

33 later earthquakes within 252 km; the largest was M5.5 2 days ago. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M6.6

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

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)MagnitudeDepth (km)
0.745.110
1.595.110
2.164.910
2.285.510
2.495.410
3.795.310
3.904.710
8.465.110
9.755.110
9.995.010
11.035.010
11.524.710
11.744.710
11.754.810
11.794.810
12.974.910
14.804.710
14.855.010
14.875.210
16.434.814
17.645.110
18.734.810
21.044.810
27.925.010
28.995.110
36.735.010
51.414.810
53.885.110
54.035.310
56.085.110
56.324.610
56.324.910
56.375.210
  1. 5.562 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-25 23:39
  2. 5.469 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-25 23:52
  3. 5.359 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 01:10
  4. 5.361 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 03:25
  5. 5.259 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 12:14
  6. 5.267 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:45
  7. 5.193 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 03:15
  8. 5.178 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-25 22:07
  9. 5.165 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 05:50
  10. 5.169 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 07:08
  11. 5.174 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 15:01
  12. 5.191 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-27 02:22
  13. 5.179 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:28
  14. 5.173 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-25 22:58
  15. 5.085 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-27 10:06
  16. 5.084 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 07:22
  17. 5.079 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 08:24
  18. 5.077 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 12:14
  19. 5.061 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-27 01:18
  20. 4.979 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-25 23:32
  21. 4.974 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 10:21
  22. 4.940 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-28 05:42
  23. 4.898 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 09:08
  24. 4.879 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 09:10
  25. 4.887 km NE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia09-26 13:48

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?

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Reports on SeismoAtlas

No reports yet.

USGS “Did You Feel It?” has 11 reports: add yours at USGS.

Event id jma20260926063141. First recorded here 28 Sept 2026, 17:32:05 UTC. Solutions: JMA (jma:20260926063141); INGV (ingv:47246702); GFZ (geofon:gfz2026svlq); USGS (usgs:us6000txpi). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M6.6 earthquake 81 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/jma20260926063141-m6-6-earthquake-81-km-ene-of-tadine-loyalty-islands-new-caledonia, data from USGS, JMA, INGV, GFZ.

JSON: /api/v1/events/jma20260926063141. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.

M6.6 earthquake 81 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia · SeismoAtlas