7.0 Offshore Quake Near Tadine, New Caledonia Triggers Short-Lived Tsunami Alerts

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck offshore near Tadine in New Caledonia on Friday, prompting an initial tsunami warning for parts of the South Pacific that was later lifted. The quake was shallow, a characteristic that can raise tsunami concerns more quickly after undersea earthquakes.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at 21:23:05 UTC on Sept. 25. It placed the epicenter 68 kilometers, or 42 miles, east-northeast of Tadine, New Caledonia, at coordinates 21.246 degrees south and 168.453 degrees east. The USGS said the quake had a depth of 17.10 kilometers, or 10.63 miles.

A Reuters-syndicated report, citing the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, said tsunami warnings were initially issued for parts of the South Pacific, including New Caledonia, Fiji and Vanuatu, before being lifted. In the first minutes after the quake, there were no authoritative confirmed reports of deaths or major damage in the wire copy reviewed.

Tadine is the principal town on Maré Island in New Caledonia’s Loyalty Islands. The area lies in a seismically active part of the southwest Pacific near a complex plate boundary involving the Australia plate and the Vanuatu arc and broader Pacific region. That setting means shallow offshore earthquakes are watched closely because they are more capable than deeper quakes of displacing the seafloor and generating tsunami risk.

The southwest Pacific has experienced multiple magnitude-7 and larger earthquakes before, making Friday’s quake a major event but not an unprecedented one for the region. As with many earthquakes, early measurements can be revised as more seismic data is analyzed, but the USGS listing used Friday evening put the quake at magnitude 7.0.