M6.5 earthquake Vanuatu region
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck in the Vanuatu region on Sat, Jul 4, 1959, 5:55 AM GMT+12 (17:55 UTC), 15 km (9 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.6 Fiji region. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.5 (mw), strong
- Local time
- UTC
- 1959-07-03 17:55:13 UTC
- Depth
- 15.0 km (9.3 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 16.197° S, 172.946° E
- Region
- Vanuatu
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.38
- Depth from
- From location
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
Earthquakes todayVanuatu earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event iscgem882383. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 3:15 PM UTC.