Earthquakes in New Caledonia

New Caledonia records earthquakes steadily rather than in isolated bursts, with 37 events in the past 30 days, and 27 of the events on record reached magnitude 5 or above — the level at which damage becomes a genuine concern for vulnerable construction. Activity here is almost entirely crustal, which means shaking at the surface is strong relative to the magnitudes involved.

58 earthquakes have been recorded in New Caledonia in our catalogue, 37 of them in the past 30 days.

The average magnitude is 5.0 and the average focal depth 12 km. 58 events reached magnitude 4 or above and 27 reached magnitude 5 or above.

The strongest earthquake recorded in New Caledonia in this period was a magnitude 7.0 event near Tadine, New Caledonia on 25 September 2026, at a depth of 17 km. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake radiates roughly 476,879 tons of TNT equivalent in seismic energy.

Locations recording the most events include Tadine (19), Vao (1).

98% of events here are shallow (under 70 km), 2% intermediate (70–300 km) and 0% deep-focus (over 300 km). Almost everything here is crustal. That is characteristic of transform faulting or continental deformation rather than subduction — and it means shaking at the surface is strong for the magnitudes involved.

The deepest event on record here was a magnitude 4.8 earthquake at 99 km beneath Tadine, New Caledonia on 15 September 2026.

By band, the catalogue holds 31 in the magnitude 4 range, 24 in the magnitude 5 range, 2 in the magnitude 6 range, 1 in the magnitude 7 range.

The busiest single day was 26 September 2026, with 17 recorded events.

No event in this record carries a USGS link to NOAA tsunami information.