Strong mag. 6.8 earthquake - Vanuatu Islands on Tuesday, 21 August 2018 - information

Strong mag. 6.8 earthquake - Coral Sea, 25 km south of Pentecost Island, Penama Province, Vanuatu, on Tuesday, 21 August 2018 at 22:32 (GMT)

Strong mag. 6.8 earthquake - Coral Sea, 25 km south of Pentecost Island, Penama Province, Vanuatu, on Tuesday, 21 August 2018 at 22:32 (GMT)

Strong magnitude 6.8 earthquake at 10 km depth

21 Aug 22:39 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 7 minutes.
Aug 21 22:41: Magnitude recalculated from 6.5 to 6.6.
Aug 21 22:44: Magnitude recalculated from 6.6 to 6.8.
Date & time: 21 Aug 2018 22:32:27 UTC
Magnitude: 6.8
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 15.96°S / 168.1°E (Coral Sea, Vanuatu)
Nearest volcano: Ambrym (28 km / 17 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
75 km (46 mi) ENE of Lakatoro (pop: 705) --> See nearby quakes!
76 km (47 mi) E of Norsup (pop: 3,000) --> See nearby quakes!
112 km (69 mi) ESE of Luganville (pop: 13,400) --> See nearby quakes!
150 km (93 mi) SE of Port-Olry (pop: 1,950) --> See nearby quakes!
199 km (124 mi) N of Port Vila (pop: 35,900) --> See nearby quakes!
239 km (149 mi) SSE of Sola (pop: 1,170) --> See nearby quakes!
418 km (259 mi) NNW of Isangel (pop: 1,440) --> See nearby quakes!
25 km (16 mi) SSW of Pentecost Island (pop: 16,800) --> See nearby quakes!
415 km (258 mi) NNW of Tanna Island (pop: 28,800) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
Estimated released energy: 1 x 1015 joules (278 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 2.4 x 105 tons of TNT or 14.9 atomic bombs!) More info
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Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
MagnitudeDepthLocationSource
M 6.810 kmVanuatu IslandsGFZ
M 6.513 km- 79km E of Lakatoro, VanuatuUSGS

shake map
(shakemap: USGS)

User reports for this quake (3)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
trinidad / Weak shaking (MMI III)
191.6 km S of epicenter [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) (reported through our app)
2013.8 km SW of epicenter [Map] / not felt (reported through our app)
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Aftershocks of the 6.8 quake Coral Sea, 25 km south of Pentecost Island, Penama Province, Vanuatu, 21 August 2018 22:32 GMT

More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (38 quakes):
  • 12 Feb 2019 10:53 UTC
    | M 5.2 |
    10 km (6.2 mi) depth
    |
    108 km (67 mi) distance
    | GFZ | Details
  • 29 Jan 2019 09:37 UTC
    | M 4.9 |
    163 km (101.3 mi) depth
    |
    142 km (88 mi) distance
    | EMSC | Details
  • 01 Jan 2019 00:04 UTC
    | M 4.9 |
    47 km (29.2 mi) depth
    |
    140 km (87 mi) distance
    | EMSC | Details
  • 26 Dec 2018 22:15 UTC
    | M 5.0 |
    152 km (94.4 mi) depth
    |
    149 km (93 mi) distance
    | EMSC | Details
  • 26 Dec 2018 03:23 UTC
    | M 5.1 |
    35 km (21.7 mi) depth
    |
    44 km (28 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 23 Dec 2018 20:29 UTC
    | M 4.7 |
    10 km (6.2 mi) depth
    |
    20 km (13 mi) distance
    | EMSC | Details
  • 21 Dec 2018 22:24 UTC
    | M 5.0 |
    10 km (6.2 mi) depth
    |
    41 km (25 mi) distance
    | EMSC | Details
  • 20 Dec 2018 05:52 UTC
    | M 4.5 |
    19.3 km (12 mi) depth
    |
    54 km (33 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 19 Dec 2018 04:10 UTC
    | M 4.8 |
    35 km (21.7 mi) depth
    |
    37 km (23 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 18 Dec 2018 05:27 UTC
    | M 5.0 |
    35 km (21.7 mi) depth
    |
    41 km (25 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 17 Dec 2018 08:04 UTC
    | M 4.9 |
    10 km (6.2 mi) depth
    |
    51 km (31 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 17 Dec 2018 07:16 UTC
    | M 4.8 |
    10 km (6.2 mi) depth
    |
    56 km (35 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 17 Dec 2018 06:52 UTC
    | M 4.7 |
    10 km (6.2 mi) depth
    |
    76 km (47 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 16 Dec 2018 18:28 UTC
    | M 4.9 |
    35 km (21.7 mi) depth
    |
    61 km (38 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 16 Dec 2018 17:59 UTC
    | M 4.7 |
    35 km (21.7 mi) depth
    |
    55 km (34 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 16 Dec 2018 17:12 UTC
    | M 5.0 |
    26.7 km (16.6 mi) depth
    |
    57 km (35 mi) distance
    | GeoAu | Details
    • Show all

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Earlier earthquakes in the same area

Strong mag. 6.8 earthquake - Coral Sea, 25 km south of Pentecost Island, Penama Province, Vanuatu, on Tuesday, 21 August 2018 at 22:32 (GMT)
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