M6.3 earthquake 37 km W of Sola, Vanuatu
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 37 km W of Sola, Vanuatu on Sun, Sep 24, 1978, 3:32 AM GMT+11 (16:32 UTC), 201 km (125 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.3 (mb), strong
- Local time
- UTC
- 1978-09-23 16:32:11 UTC
- Depth
- 201.0 km (124.9 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 13.919° S, 167.209° E
- Region
- Vanuatu
- Strongest shaking
- IV, light 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
- IV, light shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 1.8% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 0.1 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.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Stations used
- 294
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 3.3 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.681 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu · 17535 days ago · 202 km deep · 69 km away
- 5.268 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu · 17512 days ago · 210 km deep · 51 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayVanuatu earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000wph (also filed as gcmtb092378a, gcmt19780923163211, atlas19780923163212, iscgem677133). Read Mon, Sep 28, 2026, 6:05 PM UTC.