Vanuatu earthquakes

M5.3 earthquake 155 km W of Sola, Vanuatu

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 155 km W of Sola, Vanuatu on Fri, Nov 29, 1985, 6:04 AM GMT+11 (19:04 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.5 150 km W of Sola, Vanuatu. This one was a foreshock.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.3 (mw), moderate
Local time: Fri, Nov 29, 1985, 6:04 AM GMT+11
UTC: 1985-11-28 19:04:16 UTC
Depth: 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 13.809° S, 166.113° 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 2.3 and up: 73 in the 60 days after this one and 15 in the 30 days before it.

After

The first 60 of 73.

Before

Earthquakes today Vanuatu earthquakes Live radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0002nbb (also filed as gcmtb112885g, gcmt19851128190416, iscgem512036). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 2:39 PM UTC.