M5.5 Earthquake near Solomon Islands — July 9, 2023
2023-07-09 00:06:23 UTC (2023-07-09) · approx. 10:06 AM UTC+10 local
On July 9, 2023 at 00:06 UTC, a magnitude 5.5 shallow crustal earthquake struck near Solomon Islands, at a depth of 19.0 km and coordinates -7.4416°, 156.0819°. The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert level for this event, indicating no significant casualties or damage expected. This earthquake was detected by 106 seismic stations with excellent location accuracy and was assigned a USGS significance rating of 465, placing it among routine seismic activity. The nearest populated place is Panguna (population 2,916).
Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 3 kilotons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 3.8 km — a useful intuition for the size of the slip patch on the fault.
Nearest Populated Places
ShakeMap — predicted shaking intensity
Modeled ground-motion intensity contoured on the Modified Mercalli scale (MMI). Computed by the USGS from the moment-tensor solution and regional ground-motion prediction equations.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey ShakeMap. View interactive ShakeMap on USGS
Population exposure (USGS PAGER)
Estimated population that experienced each level of shaking. Based on the USGS PAGER rapid impact assessment, which combines ShakeMap output with global population grids.
| Shaking intensity (MMI) | Description | Population exposed |
|---|---|---|
| MMI 3 | weak | 227,896 |
| MMI 4 | light | 57,422 |
Earthquake Details
156.0819°E
Technical Information
Nearby Earthquakes (Last 7 Days)
Common Questions
How strong was the magnitude 5.5 earthquake near Solomon Islands?
The magnitude 5.5 earthquake that struck near Solomon Islands on July 9, 2023 at 00:06 UTC had a depth of 19.0 km. For context, this was a moderate earthquake that could be widely felt.
Where did the earthquake occur?
The earthquake epicenter was located at -7.4416°, 156.0819°, which is near Solomon Islands. The nearest populated place is Panguna (population 2,916).
Were there aftershocks?
Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 5.5 earthquakes can continue for days to weeks and gradually diminish over time.
Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us6000kr16). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.
Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2023, July 9, 2023). M5.5 Earthquake near Solomon Islands — July 9, 2023. Retrieved September 16, 2023 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us6000kr16/