Vanuatu earthquakes

M5.3 earthquake 153 km WNW of Sola, Vanuatu

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 153 km WNW of Sola, Vanuatu on Sun, Dec 29, 1985, 6:54 PM GMT+11 (07:54 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.5 123 km W of Sola, Vanuatu. This one was a foreshock.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.3 (mb), moderate
Local time: Sun, Dec 29, 1985, 6:54 PM GMT+11
UTC: 1985-12-29 07:54:30 UTC
Depth: 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 13.434° S, 166.211° 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: 21 in the 60 days after this one and 49 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0002pj9 (also filed as iscgem509729). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 3:36 PM UTC.