Earthquakes in New Caledonia, 2017–2026
From 2017 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 778 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in or off New Caledonia. 4 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.5 on December 5, 2018 (166 km ESE of Tadine, New Caledonia).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded one earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 4.7 on September 26 (35 km W of Tadine, New Caledonia).
What the record holds
10 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records no deaths for any of them. 2017 had the most magnitude 4.5+ earthquakes: 249 of the 778. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.1 on May 20, 2023 (southeast of the Loyalty Islands). NOAA lists 10 tsunamis that began in or off New Caledonia, and 2 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 2.3 m, on December 5, 2018.
The events
- May 20, 2023Earthquake · M 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- March 31, 2022Earthquake · M 7.0southeast of the Loyalty IslandsUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- March 30, 2022Earthquake · M 6.9284 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- December 5, 2018Earthquake · M 7.5166 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- December 5, 2018Tsunami · 2.3 m hereLoyalty IslandsNOAA NCEI
- November 19, 2017Earthquake · M 7.085 km ENE of Tadine, New CaledoniaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for New Caledonia when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where New Caledonia is the nearest country.
- USGS counts are its ComCat catalogue’s earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more, aftershocks included.
- NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
- Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
- A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
- The map frames the box around New Caledonia, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history