Vanuatu earthquakes

M5.6 earthquake 76 km NNW of Port-Olry, Vanuatu

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 76 km NNW of Port-Olry, Vanuatu on Sat, Dec 29, 1973, 8:05 AM GMT+11 (21:05 UTC), 50 km (31 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M7.2 20 km WSW of Port-Olry, Vanuatu. This one was a foreshock.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.6 (mb, body-wave), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Sat, Dec 29, 1973, 8:05 AM GMT+11
UTC: 1973-12-28 21:05:36 UTC
Depth: 50.0 km (31.1 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 14.441° S, 166.714° E
Region: Vanuatu
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Magnitude estimates

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
5.6	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
5.8	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.56

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Stations used: 90

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.6 and up: 58 in the 60 days after this one and 17 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00004pt (also filed as iscgemsup753920, iscgem753920). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 12:46 PM UTC.