M5.4 earthquake 75 km SSW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 75 km SSW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu on Tue, Mar 6, 1990, 5:10 AM GMT+12 (17:10 UTC), 34 km (21 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.5 39 km SSW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu. This one was a foreshock.

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
5.4	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · 6 stations
5.5	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.2

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.4 and up: 10 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000467g (also filed as iscgem374739). Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 1:34 PM UTC.