M5.5 earthquake 59 km E of Isangel, Vanuatu
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 59 km E of Isangel, Vanuatu on Thu, Oct 3, 1985, 8:40 AM GMT+12 (20:40 UTC), 38 km (23 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M6.2 66 km NNE of Isangel, Vanuatu. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.5 (mw), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1985-10-02 20:40:02 UTC
- Depth
- 37.6 km (23.4 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 19.499° S, 169.843° 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.
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 3.934 km S of Isangel, Vanuatu · 14971 days ago · 82 km deep · 68 km away
- 3.820 km N of Isangel, Vanuatu · 14971 days ago · 222 km deep · 61 km away
- 4.323 km E of Isangel, Vanuatu · 14970 days ago · 65 km deep · 36 km away
- 6.266 km NNE of Isangel, Vanuatu · 14967 days ago · 273 km deep · 74 km away
- 4.7138 km ESE of Isangel, Vanuatu · 14919 days ago · 33 km deep · 97 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayVanuatu earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0002kd8 (also filed as gcmtb100285c, gcmt19851002204002, iscgem512336). Read Mon, Sep 28, 2026, 1:23 PM UTC.