M4.6 earthquake 39 km WNW of Sola, Vanuatu
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 39 km WNW of Sola, Vanuatu on Sun, Sep 28, 1986, 4:28 AM GMT+11 (17:28 UTC), 276 km (171 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.3 53 km SSE of Sola, Vanuatu. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.6 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1986-09-27 17:28:09 UTC
- Depth
- 276.0 km (171.5 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 13.772° S, 167.206° 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
- FROM_LOCATION
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.6 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
Earthquakes todayVanuatu earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0002yev. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 4:14 PM UTC.