M4.6 Earthquake Strikes Solomon Islands

Lata, Solomon Islands — A magnitude 4.6 earthquake shook the waters southwest of Lata on Monday night, the second earthquake to strike the same island area in about an hour.

What happened:

The quake hit at 10:30 PM Central Time on Monday, November 9. The United States Geological Survey put the magnitude at 4.6, with the center about 65 kilometers southwest of Lata and about 10 kilometers below the surface. Lata sits on Nendo Island, the main island of the Santa Cruz group in the far eastern Solomon Islands. A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck about 19 kilometers from Lata around 9:37 PM Central Time, less than an hour before this one.

Impacts:

The Geological Survey reported no tsunami threat from this earthquake, and no tsunami warning was issued. No shaking reports and no damage reports had been posted by the Survey at the time of this report. The quake struck in a remote stretch of the South Pacific, far from the United States mainland.

What to do:

If the ground starts shaking, get down on the floor, get under a sturdy table or desk, and hold on until it stops. Keep clear of windows and heavy objects that could fall. Once the shaking ends, look around for dangers like gas leaks, broken glass, and cracked walls before you move. More shaking can follow, so be ready to drop, cover, and hold on again.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), November 9, 2026.