December 29, 1973 Earthquake: Luganville, Lamap, Vanuatu Islands
A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Luganville, Lamap, Vanuatu Islands on December 29, 1973 at 00:19:31 UTC, 47 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 29, 1973
- Time
- 00:19:31 UTC
- Place
- Luganville, Lamap, Vanuatu Islands
- Magnitude
- 7.2 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 47 km (29 mi)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 15.120° S, 166.900° 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
- August 1892, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu Islands
- July 8, 1909, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu Islands
- July 5, 1964, Espiritu Santo Islands, Vanuatu Islands
- March 19, 1905, Malo Pass, Vanuatu
- July 27, 1990, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu Islands
- December 28, 1973, Espiritu Santo, Luganille, Vanuatu Islands
- August 11, 1965, Vanuatu Islands
- August 13, 1965, Vanuatu Islands
- April 3, 2016, Vanuatu Islands
- August 1, 2007, Luganville, Vanuatu Islands
- April 28, 2016, Vanuatu Islands
- November 22, 2023, Maewo, Vanuatu Islands
- August 11, 1970, Solomon Islands
- November 27, 2002, Mere Lava Island, 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 4652.