M4.9 earthquake 186 km NNW of Sola, Vanuatu
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 186 km NNW of Sola, Vanuatu on Thu, Oct 9, 1980, 2:38 PM GMT+11 (03:38 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.2 178 km WNW 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
- 4.9 (mb, body-wave), light
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1980-10-09 03:38:09 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 12.393° S, 166.726° 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
- 21
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.9 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.3155 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu · 16790 days ago · 39 km deep · 56 km away
- 5.2104 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu · 16784 days ago · 191 km deep · 84 km away
- 5.0191 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu · 16782 days ago · 33 km deep · 45 km away
- 6.2178 km WNW of Sola, Vanuatu · 16778 days ago · 33 km deep · 98 km away
- 4.6155 km S of Lata, Solomon Islands · 16761 days ago · 33 km deep · 86 km away
- 5.1159 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands · 16761 days ago · 51 km deep · 58 km away
- 5.2200 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu · 16759 days ago · 33 km deep · 61 km away
- 4.6101 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu · 16759 days ago · 161 km deep · 87 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayVanuatu earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001a50. Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 3:10 AM UTC.