M6.0 earthquake 26 km W of Isangel, Vanuatu
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 26 km W of Isangel, Vanuatu on Mon, Aug 12, 2002, 1:59 PM GMT+11 (02:59 UTC), 112 km (70 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.0 (Mwb, body-wave moment), strong
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 2002-08-12 02:59:24 UTC
- Depth
- 112.2 km (69.7 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 19.506° S, 169.036° E
- Region
- Vanuatu
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Magnitude estimates
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.0 | Mwb, body-wave moment | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.87 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.9 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
| 5.5 | Me, energy | Choy, USGS energy magnitude | Reviewed |
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Oblique reverse
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 314°, dip 15°, rake 58°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 167°, dip 78°, rake 98°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Stations used
- 326
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 3.0 and up: 13 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 5.124 km SSE of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8818 days ago · 226 km deep · 44 km away
- 4.645 km NNE of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8808 days ago · 272 km deep · 55 km away
- 4.8Vanuatu · 8802 days ago · 33 km deep · 35 km away
- 4.4100 km N of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8796 days ago · 249 km deep · 99 km away
- 4.516 km SE of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8795 days ago · 33 km deep · 40 km away
- 4.884 km SSW of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8793 days ago · 33 km deep · 80 km away
- 4.7Vanuatu · 8793 days ago · 232 km deep · 53 km away
- 4.780 km SW of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8792 days ago · 33 km deep · 72 km away
- 4.480 km SSW of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8792 days ago · 33 km deep · 74 km away
- 4.550 km N of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8788 days ago · 272 km deep · 53 km away
- 4.884 km NW of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8785 days ago · 41 km deep · 63 km away
- 4.375 km SW of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8773 days ago · 33 km deep · 68 km away
- 5.792 km N of Isangel, Vanuatu · 8763 days ago · 246 km deep · 93 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayVanuatu earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp000b9r2 (also filed as choy20020812025924, gcmtb081202a, gcmt20020812025924, iscgem3240744). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 10:55 AM UTC.