December 25, 2010 Earthquake: Vanuatu Islands
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Vanuatu Islands on December 25, 2010 at 13:16:37 UTC, 16 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
- December 25, 2010
- Time
- 13:16:37 UTC
- Place
- Vanuatu Islands
- Magnitude
- 7.3 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 16 km (10 mi)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 19.702° S, 167.947° E
- Country
- Vanuatu
The toll
- Injuries
- 4 with its tsunami and other effects
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million) 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.
Felt Reports
Felt (IV) at Port-Vila. Also felt at Isangel. Felt (III) at Noumea, New Caledonia. Also felt at Mont-Dore, Paita and We.
Tectonic Summary
The Vanuatu (New Hebrides trench) earthquake of December 25, 2010, occurred as the result of normal-faulting within the Australia plate, in the region of the boundary between the Australia plate and the Pacific plate. In the epicentral region of the earthquake, the Australia plate moves east-northeast relative to the Pacific plate with a velocity of about 8 cm/yr. The Australia plate subducts beneath the Pacific plate at the New Hebrides trench and is seismically active northeast of the epicenter of the December 25 earthquake to a depth of 300 km. The stresses that generated the earthquake result from the bending of the Australia plate as it subducts beneath the Pacific plate.
The New Hebrides arc region of the Australia/New Hebrides plate-boundary experiences numerous strong earthquakes. In the past quarter century, the thousand kilometer section of the arc centered on the epicenter of the December 25 earthquake has produced 19 earthquakes of magnitude 7 or greater, the largest having magnitude 7.7.
The western margin of the Pacific plate that lies to the east of the New Hebrides trench is commonly viewed as being subdivided into several microplates that move with respect to each other at rates of a few cm/yr.
(above from reference #1053)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- March 28, 1875, Lifou Island, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
- September 20, 1920, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
- May 10, 2011, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
- January 9, 2011, Vanuatu Islands
- November 2, 1972, Tanna, Anatom, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
- August 17, 1863, Vanuatu Islands
- January 10, 1878, Tanna Island, Vanuatu
- February 11, 1878, Vanuatu Islands
- August 1878, Vanuatu Islands
- April 9, 2008, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
- April 28, 2008, Vanuatu Islands
- October 14, 1913, Vanuatu Islands
- June 1, 1910, Vanuatu Islands
- April 14, 2012, Vanuatu Islands
- January 13, 2011, Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia
More
Significant earthquakes of 2010The 2000sEvery quake the USGS located in 2010Recent 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 9761.