Vanuatu earthquakes

M5.4 earthquake Vanuatu

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck in Vanuatu on Sat, Aug 18, 1979, 1:18 AM GMT+11 (14:18 UTC), 23 km (14 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.7 60 km W of Port-Vila, Vanuatu. This one was a foreshock.

Port-Vila forecast More in Vanuatu

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.4 (mb), moderate
Local time: Sat, Aug 18, 1979, 1:18 AM GMT+11
UTC: 1979-08-17 14:18:34 UTC
Depth: 23.0 km (14.3 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 17.721° S, 167.714° 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: 62

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Port-Vila, VanuatuPopulation 35,901. Forecast64 kmW

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.4 and up: 19 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

6.149 km W of Port-Vila, VanuatuFri, Aug 17, 11:59 PM GMT+11 · 17203 days ago · 17 km deep · 14 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00012g1 (also filed as iscgem660512). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 6:49 PM UTC.