M6.0 earthquake near Malango, Guadalcanal Province

What happened

A magnitude 6 earthquake struck 114 km WNW of Kirakira, Solomon Islands on 20 Dec 2016, 12:33 UTC at a depth of 10 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Strong. Can cause damage in populated areas up to tens of kilometres away. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Malango, about 126 km away in Guadalcanal Province, Solomon Islands.