M5.3 earthquake 89 km S of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 89 km S of Port-Vila, Vanuatu on Tue, Aug 14, 1979, 9:57 PM GMT+11 (10:57 UTC), 39 km (24 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.1 49 km W of Port-Vila, Vanuatu. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.3 (mb), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1979-08-14 10:57:03 UTC
- Depth
- 39.0 km (24.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 18.535° S, 168.197° 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
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Stations used
- 95
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 7 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 6.149 km W of Port-Vila, Vanuatu · 17203 days ago · 17 km deep · 98 km away
- 5.070 km WSW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu · 17203 days ago · 15 km deep · 90 km away
- 4.240 km W of Port-Vila, Vanuatu · 17202 days ago · 33 km deep · 93 km away
- 4.855 km WSW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu · 17201 days ago · 33 km deep · 67 km away
- 4.769 km SSW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu · 17192 days ago · 29 km deep · 28 km away
- 5.879 km NW of Isangel, Vanuatu · 17162 days ago · 74 km deep · 81 km away
- 5.385 km SSE of Port-Vila, Vanuatu · 17157 days ago · 96 km deep · 59 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayVanuatu earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00012ds (also filed as gcmtb081479a, gcmt19790814105703, iscgem660345). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 11:14 AM UTC.