M5.2 earthquake 54 km WNW of Sola, Vanuatu
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 54 km WNW of Sola, Vanuatu on Wed, Dec 6, 1978, 12:58 PM GMT+11 (01:58 UTC), 221 km (137 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.4 148 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.2 (mb), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1978-12-06 01:58:08 UTC
- Depth
- 221.0 km (137.3 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 13.649° S, 167.101° 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.
- Stations used
- 73
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 3.9Vanuatu · 17439 days ago · 33 km deep · 69 km away
- 5.256 km S of Sola, Vanuatu · 17431 days ago · 190 km deep · 89 km away
- 5.4148 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu · 17398 days ago · 80 km deep · 99 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayVanuatu earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000xsb (also filed as iscgem672073). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 10:18 AM UTC.