M5.1 earthquake near Honiara, Honiara

What happened

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 38 km WSW of Buala, Solomon Islands on 7 Dec 2020, 22:30 UTC at a depth of 60 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Moderate. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Honiara, about 149 km away in Honiara, Solomon Islands.