December 28, 1973 Earthquake: Espiritu Santo, Luganille, Vanuatu Islands
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Espiritu Santo, Luganille, Vanuatu Islands on December 28, 1973 at 13:41:45 UTC, 26 km below the surface.
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
- December 28, 1973
- Time
- 13:41:45 UTC
- Place
- Espiritu Santo, Luganille, Vanuatu Islands
- Magnitude
- 7.5 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 26 km (16 mi)
- Intensity
- 7 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 14.460° S, 166.600° E
- Country
- Vanuatu
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
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.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- October 27, 1971, Espiritu Santo, Port Vila, Vanuatu Islands
- April 3, 2016, Vanuatu Islands
- August 11, 1970, Solomon Islands
- November 10, 1910, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu Islands
- December 21, 1985, Vanuatu Islands
- November 28, 1985, Vanuatu Islands
- December 29, 1973, Luganville, Lamap, Vanuatu Islands
- May 27, 2010, Vanuatu Islands
- August 1892, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu Islands
- July 5, 1964, Espiritu Santo Islands, Vanuatu Islands
- November 27, 2002, Mere Lava Island, Vanuatu Islands
- July 8, 1909, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu Islands
- July 27, 1990, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu Islands
- July 6, 1987, Vanuatu Islands
- May 12, 1980, Vanuatu Islands
More
Significant earthquakes of 1973The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1973Recent 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 4651.