M5.4 earthquake 187 km NNW of Sola, Vanuatu
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 187 km NNW of Sola, Vanuatu on Fri, Feb 27, 1981, 4:42 AM GMT+11 (17:42 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.7 170 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
- 5.4 (mb), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-02-26 17:42:54 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 12.434° S, 166.635° 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
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.4 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.2197 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands · 16626 days ago · 33 km deep · 15 km away
- 4.5194 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands · 16612 days ago · 45 km deep · 27 km away
- 5.7170 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands · 16587 days ago · 45 km deep · 40 km away
- 4.5142 km WNW of Sola, Vanuatu · 16586 days ago · 76 km deep · 98 km away
- 5.5134 km WNW of Sola, Vanuatu · 16585 days ago · 33 km deep · 89 km away
- 5.3201 km SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands · 16584 days ago · 49 km deep · 35 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayVanuatu earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001cec. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 2:46 PM UTC.