M6.4 earthquake 52 km SW of Sola, Vanuatu
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 52 km SW of Sola, Vanuatu on Tue, Oct 9, 1973, 6:57 PM GMT+11 (07:57 UTC), 9 km (6 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.4 (ms), strong
- Local time
- UTC
- 1973-10-09 07:57:31 UTC
- Depth
- 9.0 km (5.6 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 14.233° S, 167.228° E
- Region
- Vanuatu
- Strongest shaking
- VI, strong shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- VI, strong shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 19.4% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 3.1 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
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
- 56
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.152 km SW of Sola, Vanuatu · 19342 days ago · 33 km deep · 4 km away
- 4.541 km S of Sola, Vanuatu · 19342 days ago · 16 km deep · 27 km away
- 4.646 km NNE of Port-Olry, Vanuatu · 19337 days ago · 17 km deep · 49 km away
- 4.069 km SW of Sola, Vanuatu · 19296 days ago · 177 km deep · 17 km away
- 4.966 km SW of Sola, Vanuatu · 19284 days ago · 33 km deep · 15 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayVanuatu earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00003ry (also filed as atlas19731009075739, iscgem755278). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 11:32 PM UTC.