August 13, 1965 Earthquake: Vanuatu Islands
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Vanuatu Islands on August 13, 1965 at 12:40:32 UTC, 33 km below the surface. It caused a tsunami.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- August 13, 1965
- Time
- 12:40:32 UTC
- Place
- Vanuatu Islands
- Magnitude
- 7.4 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 33 km (21 mi)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 15.900° S, 166.800° E
- Country
- Vanuatu
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million) with its tsunami and other effects
- Houses destroyed
- Few (about 1 to 50) with its tsunami and other effects
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Reference #414:
1965, August 13. One of the small aftershocks of the earthquake of August 12 generated a tsunami 2 m high, as a result of which several small vessels were lost and coastal structures were destroyed on the western shore of Espiritu Santo Island. The instrumental records of this and the other aftershocks have intensive T phases.
Reference #1229:
1965, August 13, 12:40:32 UTC. 15.9 S, 166.8 E, depth 33 km, magnitude 6.8 mb, 7.3 MS. New Hebrides Islands.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- November 26, 1999, Pentecost, Vanuatu Islands
- October 27, 1971, Espiritu Santo, Port Vila, Vanuatu Islands
- August 11, 1965, Vanuatu Islands
- March 19, 1905, Malo Pass, Vanuatu
- July 5, 1964, Espiritu Santo Islands, Vanuatu Islands
- July 8, 1909, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu Islands
- April 28, 2016, Vanuatu Islands
- August 1892, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu Islands
- November 9, 1910, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu Islands
- December 29, 1973, Luganville, Lamap, Vanuatu Islands
- July 27, 1990, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu Islands
- August 1, 2007, Luganville, Vanuatu Islands
- July 13, 1994, Vanuatu Islands
- November 19, 1933, Malekula, Vanuatu Islands
- February 19, 2015, Vanuatu Islands
More
Significant earthquakes of 1965The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1965Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 6595.