Vanuatu earthquakes

M4.9 earthquake 73 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 73 km NW of Sola, Vanuatu on Mon, Jun 28, 2010, 5:27 PM GMT+11 (06:27 UTC), 49 km (31 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: Mon, Jun 28, 2010, 5:27 PM GMT+11
UTC: 2010-06-28 06:27:32 UTC
Depth: 49.3 km (30.6 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 13.503° S, 166.993° 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.

Felt at Port-Vila.

From the USGS event page for usp000hemw. 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 173°, dip 33°, rake 98°
Nodal plane 2: Strike 343°, dip 57°, rake 85°

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Station coverage gap: 61°
Stations used: 74

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.9 and up: 17 in the 60 days after this one and 12 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 usp000hemw (also filed as gcmtc201006280627a, gcmt20100628062732). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 9:17 AM UTC.