Vanuatu earthquakes

M4.9 earthquake 115 km W of Sola, Vanuatu

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 115 km W of Sola, Vanuatu on Sun, May 30, 2010, 12:21 PM GMT+11 (01:21 UTC), 34 km (21 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: 4.9 (Mwc, centroid moment), light
Magnitude from: USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time: Sun, May 30, 2010, 12:21 PM GMT+11
UTC: 2010-05-30 01:21:30 UTC
Depth: 34.4 km (21.4 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 13.743° S, 166.496° 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
4.9	Mwc, centroid moment	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed
4.9	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 usp000hdcf. 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 16°, dip 47°, rake 117°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 159°, dip 49°, rake 64°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Depth from: FROM_LOCATION
Station coverage gap: 46°
Stations used: 84

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.9 and up: 21 in the 60 days after this one and 36 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 usp000hdcf (also filed as gcmtc201005300121a, gcmt20100530012130). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 9:26 AM UTC.