M5.1 earthquake - 34 km SSE of Kirakira, Solomon Islands

What happened

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 34 km SSE of Kirakira, Solomon Islands on 2 Jan 2017, 03:21 UTC at a depth of 51 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 Malango, about 263 km away in Guadalcanal Province, Solomon Islands.