M6.6 Earthquake southeast of the Loyalty Islands — May 26, 2022
2022-05-26 15:37:58 UTC (2022-05-26) · approx. 2:37 AM UTC+11 local
Felt by 2 people across nearby locations. 0
On May 26, 2022 at 15:37 UTC, a magnitude 6.6 shallow crustal earthquake struck southeast of the Loyalty Islands, at a depth of 15.0 km and coordinates -22.8282°, 172.1298°.0 The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert level for this event, indicating no significant casualties or damage expected. This earthquake was detected by 302 seismic stations with excellent location accuracy and was assigned a USGS significance rating of 671, making it a moderate-impact event.
Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 120 kilotons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 22 km — a useful intuition for the size of the slip patch on the fault.
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
Did You Feel It? — community-reported shaking
Aggregated felt-report intensity from 2 citizen responses to the USGS Did You Feel It? system. Each colored zone represents the average MMI from reports in that area.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey Did You Feel It?. View on USGS · submit your own report
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 4 | light | 6 |
Earthquake Details
172.1298°E
Technical Information
Nearby Earthquakes (Last 7 Days)
Common Questions
How strong was the magnitude 6.6 earthquake southeast of the Loyalty Islands?
The magnitude 6.6 earthquake that struck southeast of the Loyalty Islands on May 26, 2022 at 15:37 UTC had a depth of 15.0 km. For context, this was a strong earthquake capable of causing significant damage.
Where did the earthquake occur?
The earthquake epicenter was located at -22.8282°, 172.1298°, which is southeast of the Loyalty Islands.
Were there aftershocks?
Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 6.6 earthquakes can continue for weeks to months and gradually diminish over time.
Actions
Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us7000hcqw). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.
Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2022, May 26, 2022). M6.6 Earthquake southeast of the Loyalty Islands — May 26, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2022 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us7000hcqw/