M4.8 earthquake 108 km S of Isangel, Vanuatu
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 108 km S of Isangel, Vanuatu on Wed, Feb 18, 1981, 9:22 PM GMT+11 (10:22 UTC), 40 km (25 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.4 152 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.8 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-02-18 10:22:30 UTC
- Depth
- 40.0 km (24.9 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 20.505° S, 169.478° 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
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.8 and up: 9 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.2153 km ENE of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16656 days ago · 33 km deep · 78 km away
- 4.2125 km ENE of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16655 days ago · 33 km deep · 92 km away
- 5.0150 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16655 days ago · 15 km deep · 93 km away
- 4.9145 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16654 days ago · 33 km deep · 98 km away
- 4.4southeast of the Loyalty Islands · 16650 days ago · 33 km deep · 79 km away
- 5.0155 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16649 days ago · 33 km deep · 93 km away
- 5.4152 km E of Tadine, New Caledonia · 16649 days ago · 33 km deep · 95 km away
- 4.7174 km SSE of Isangel, Vanuatu · 16648 days ago · 33 km deep · 67 km away
- 5.1164 km S of Isangel, Vanuatu · 16618 days ago · 49 km deep · 58 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayVanuatu earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001c8k. Read Sun, Sep 27, 2026, 3:34 AM UTC.