M4.4 earthquake Vanuatu region
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck in the Vanuatu region on Sun, Jul 23, 1978, 2:07 AM GMT+11 (15:07 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.1 Vanuatu region. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.4 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1978-07-22 15:07:36 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 20.599° S, 172.368° 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.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Stations used
- 10
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 2 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 usp0000vpm. Read Thu, Sep 24, 2026, 12:38 PM UTC.