M5.1 earthquake 190 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 190 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu on Tue, Dec 9, 1980, 5:32 AM GMT+11 (18:32 UTC), 55 km (34 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.8 147 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.1 (mb, body-wave), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1980-12-08 18:32:31 UTC
- Depth
- 55.0 km (34.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 12.554° S, 166.428° 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
- 49
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.1134 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands · 16709 days ago · 33 km deep · 80 km away
- 5.0148 km SE of Lata, Solomon Islands · 16705 days ago · 172 km deep · 80 km away
- 5.8147 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands · 16682 days ago · 68 km deep · 72 km away
- 4.8197 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands · 16681 days ago · 33 km deep · 17 km away
- 4.6129 km S of Lata, Solomon Islands · 16681 days ago · 33 km deep · 88 km away
Before
- 4.6101 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu · 16758 days ago · 161 km deep · 90 km away
- 5.2200 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu · 16759 days ago · 33 km deep · 24 km away
- 5.1159 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands · 16761 days ago · 51 km deep · 54 km away
- 4.6155 km S of Lata, Solomon Islands · 16761 days ago · 33 km deep · 68 km away
Earthquakes todayVanuatu earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001b70. Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 5:51 PM UTC.