Vanuatu earthquakes

M5.1 earthquake 98 km W of Sola, Vanuatu

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck 98 km W of Sola, Vanuatu on Sat, May 29, 2010, 10:15 PM GMT+11 (11:15 UTC), 35 km (22 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M6.3 118 km WNW of Sola, Vanuatu. This one was a foreshock.

Map

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.1 (Mwc, centroid moment), moderate
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Sat, May 29, 2010, 10:15 PM GMT+11
UTC: 2010-05-29 11:15:52 UTC
Depth: 35.0 km (21.7 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 13.940° S, 166.638° 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
5.1	Mwc, centroid moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
5.14	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.1
5.1	Mwc, centroid moment	Global CMT project	Preliminary

What happened

The USGS’s account of the effects of this earthquake.

no people dead or missing; no people injured; no buildings damaged or destroyed

From the USGS event page for usp000hdbt. U.S. Geological Survey text and figures are in the public domain.

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: Reverse (thrust)
Nodal plane 1: Strike 343°, dip 34°, rake 81°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 174°, dip 57°, rake 96°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from: OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
Station coverage gap: 63°
Stations used: 57

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 25 in the 60 days after this one and 33 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 usp000hdbt (also filed as gcmtc201005291115a, gcmt20100529111552, iscgem14730470). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 7:53 AM UTC.