Vanuatu earthquakes

M5.5 earthquake 77 km WNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 77 km WNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu on Thu, Jul 16, 1981, 10:20 AM GMT+11 (23:20 UTC), 31 km (20 mi) below the surface.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.5 (Ms, surface-wave), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Thu, Jul 16, 1981, 10:20 AM GMT+11
UTC: 1981-07-15 23:20:41 UTC
Depth: 31.4 km (19.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 17.595° S, 167.598° E
Region: Vanuatu
Tsunami flag: No
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

Magnitude estimates

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
5.5	Ms, surface-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · 3 stations
5.78	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.8	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

Nearest places

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

Port-Vila, VanuatuPopulation 35,901. Forecast77 kmWNW

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 42 in the 60 days after this one and 27 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

Earthquakes today Vanuatu earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001eqz (also filed as gcmtb071581b, gcmt19810715232041, iscgem623756). Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 4:17 PM UTC.