M5.3 earthquake 78 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 78 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia at 23:14 local time (12:14 UTC) on 26 Sept 2026, at a depth of 10 km, according to USGS.

Data: USGS · updated 2026-10-11 06:35 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude: 5.3moderate
body-wave magnitude (mb)
Depth: 10 km
Status: Reviewed
Origin time: 2026-09-26 12:14:57 UTC; Local: 26 Sept 2026, 23:14:57 (Pacific/Noumea)
Epicentre: 21.244° S, 168.560° 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
Place	Distance	Est. shaking
TadineLoyalty Islands, New Caledonia · pop. 7,492	78 km	IVLight
WéLoyalty Islands, New Caledonia · pop. 10,375	140 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.

Agency	Magnitude	Depth	Epicentre	Time offset	Status
USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey	5.3 mb	10 km	21.24° S, 168.56° 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.

Compare M5.3 with M4.3

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

36 later earthquakes within 56 km; the largest was M5.3 13 days ago. 26 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M5.3

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

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)	Magnitude	Depth (km)
0.06	4.5	10
0.09	4.5	10
1.56	4.8	10
2.78	5.0	10
3.86	4.8	10
6.17	4.8	10
6.36	4.4	10
7.32	4.5	10
13.06	5.0	10
13.59	4.0	10
13.71	4.3	10
13.72	4.6	10
14.12	5.1	10
16.29	4.5	10
16.87	4.2	10
21.87	5.0	10
30.84	4.6	10
34.43	4.4	10
36.17	4.3	10
36.42	4.5	10
36.54	4.8	10
39.02	4.7	10
39.17	5.3	10
41.22	5.1	10
41.46	4.6	10
41.46	4.9	10
41.51	5.2	10
49.96	4.3	10
63.15	5.3	10
70.47	5.0	10
83.06	4.3	10
85.05	4.8	10
90.58	5.0	10
105.95	4.4	10
254.58	4.8	10
324.40	4.7	10

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 us6000tz4m. First recorded here 11 Oct 2026, 11:32:23 UTC. Solutions: USGS (usgs:us6000tz4m). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M5.3 earthquake 78 km ENE of Tadine, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/us6000tz4m-m5-3-earthquake-78-km-ene-of-tadine-loyalty-islands-new-caledonia, data from USGS.

JSON: /api/v1/events/us6000tz4m. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.