Magnitude 5.3 earthquake strikes near Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu

An earthquake of magnitude 5.3 occurred in the evening on Saturday, November 20th, 2021, at 9:57 pm local time near Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu, as reported by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).
According to preliminary data, the quake was located at an intermediate depth of 123 km. The strength of the earthquake may have been tempered by its relative great depth below the surface, which makes it feel weaker in absolute terms. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) which listed the quake at magnitude 5.2.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.

Weak shaking might have been felt in Santo (pop. 13,400) located 48 km from the epicenter, Norsup (pop. 3,000) 52 km away, and Port-Olry (pop. 2,000) 87 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

Earthquake data:
Date & time: Nov 20, 2021 9:57 pm (GMT +11) local time (20 Nov 2021 10:57 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.3
Depth: 123.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 15.64°S / 167.59°E (Coral Sea, Vanuatu)
Primary data source: GFZ