Vanuatu earthquakes

M5.5 earthquake 123 km W of Sola, Vanuatu

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 123 km W of Sola, Vanuatu on Sat, Jan 11, 1986, 4:13 PM GMT+11 (05:13 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.9 96 km WNW of Sola, Vanuatu. This one was a foreshock.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.5 (mb), moderate
Local time: Sat, Jan 11, 1986, 4:13 PM GMT+11
UTC: 1986-01-11 05:13:40 UTC
Depth: 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 13.737° S, 166.416° 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 2.5 and up: 20 in the 60 days after this one and 45 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 usp0002pyf (also filed as iscgem505468). Read Thu, Sep 24, 2026, 10:48 AM UTC.