In the late afternoon of Thursday October 23rd, 2025, a significant Magnitude 5.2 earthquake hit in the Solomon Sea 165 kilometer from Honiara, Solomon Islands.
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Earthquake Summary
This earthquake hit under water in the Solomon Sea, right off the coast of Solomon Islands (7 mi offshore), 165 kilometer south-east of Honiara. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 60 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.
| Date and Time: | Oct 23, 2025 16:20 (Guadalcanal Time) - Oct 23, 2025 05:20 Universal Time. |
|---|---|
| Location: | 165 km SE of Honiara, Solomon Islands. Coordinates 10°17'5"S 161°10'51"E. |
| Map: |  Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps. |
| Magnitude: | MAG 5.2 Detected by 144 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.048 . |
| Depth: | 60 km (37 mi) A quite shallow depth. |
| Tsunami Risk: | Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here. |
Nearby towns and cities
This earthquake may have been felt in Solomon Islands . Located 165 kilometer (103 mi) south-east of the epicenter of this earthquake, Honiara (Honiara, Solomon Islands) is the nearest significant population center.
Overview of nearby places
| Distance | Place |
|---|---|
| 165 km (103 mi) NW from epicenter |
Honiara Honiara, Solomon Islands. |
Shaking reported by 2 people
People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 2 people have reported shaking in one place in Solomon Islands.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.
Places with most reports:
- Honiara, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands: 2 people.
Aftershocks detected
After this earthquake struck, 1 smaller aftershock occurred. At a distance of 71 km (44 mi) northwest of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 2 days later. It measured a magnitude of 4.5
Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks
| Classification | Magnitude | When | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Shock This Earthquake |
M 5.2 |
Oct 23, 2025 16:20 (Guadalcanal Time) | - |
| Aftershock | M 4.5 |
2 days later Oct 26, 2025 00:44 (Guadalcanal Time) | 71 km (44 mi) NW from Main Shock. |
More earthquakes coming?
Earthquakes can create aftershocks. These are generally at least 1 magnitude lower than any main shock, and as time passes the chance and strength of aftershocks decreases.
It's always adviced to be cautious of the risk of a larger shock following any significant earthquake, however this risk is fairly small. There is a roughly 94 percent change that no larger main shock will follow in the days following this earthquake.
Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).Earthquakes like this happen often in the region
Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since October 19th, 2025, when a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit 48 km (30 mi) further east-southeast. An even stronger magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck on December 8th, 2016.
In total, 84 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.2 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every month.
Low tsunami risk
Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.
Tsunami Risk Factors
| Factor | Under Sea? | MAG-6.5 or stronger? | Shallow depth? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Explanation | Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami. | Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami. MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes. MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's. |
Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor. |
| This Earthquake | This earthquake appears to have struck under the sea. | Not this earthquake. This earthquake had a magnitude of 5.2. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami. |
This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 60 km (37 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami. |
Sources
Last updated 09/11/25 07:18 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.
- US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000ritz
- European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20251023_0000061
- Geonames.org: World Cities Database
- Google Maps: Static API
- Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database
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