Strong mag. 6.1 earthquake - Coral Sea, 44 km east of Norsup, Malampa Province, Vanuatu, on Sunday, Jan 10, 2021 5:48 pm (GMT +11) - 3 user experience reports / VolcanoDiscovery

Strong mag. 6.1 earthquake - Coral Sea, 44 km east of Norsup, Malampa Province, Vanuatu, on Sunday, 10 Jan 5:48 pm (GMT +11)

Strong mag. 6.1 earthquake - Coral Sea, 44 km east of Norsup, Malampa Province, Vanuatu, on Sunday, Jan 10, 2021 5:48 pm (GMT +11)

Strong magnitude 6.1 earthquake at 166 km depth

10 Jan 06:57 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 9 minutes.
10 Jan 06:59: Magnitude recalculated from 5.8 to 5.7. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 159.0 to 161.0 km (from 99 to 100 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 2.2 km (1.4 mi) towards N.
10 Jan 07:00: Magnitude recalculated from 5.7 to 5.9. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 161.0 to 162.0 km (from 100 to 101 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 1.1 km (0.7 mi) towards N.
10 Jan 07:05: Magnitude recalculated from 5.9 to 6.1. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 162.0 to 166.0 km (from 101 to 103 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 5.5 km (3.4 mi) towards E.

Update Sun, 10 Jan 2021, 07:03

Magnitude 5.9 earthquake strikes near Norsup, Malampa Province, Vanuatu

5.9 quake 10 Jan 5:48 pm (GMT +11)

A intermediate to deep magnitude 5.9 earthquake was reported in the afternoon near Norsup, Malampa Province, Vanuatu.
According to the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), the quake hit on Sunday 10 January 2021 at 5:48 pm local time at an intermediate to considerable depth of 162 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.
A second report was later issued by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which listed it as a magnitude 5.7 earthquake.
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 Lakatoro (pop. 710) located 37 km from the epicenter, Norsup (pop. 3,000) 39 km away, and Luganville (pop. 13,400) 89 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.

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Earthquake data

Date & time: Jan 10, 2021 06:48:20 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Sunday, Jan 10, 2021 5:48 pm (GMT +11)
Magnitude: 6.1
Depth: 166.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 16.08°S / 167.81°E

(Coral Sea, Vanuatu)
Antipode: 16.08°N / 12.19°W
Nearest volcano: Ambrym (38 km / 24 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
42 km (26 mi) E of Lakatoro (pop: 705) --> See nearby quakes!
93 km (58 mi) SE of Santo (Luganville) (pop: 13,400) --> See nearby quakes!
140 km (87 mi) SE of Port-Olry (pop: 1,950) --> See nearby quakes!
192 km (119 mi) NNW of Port Vila (pop: 35,900) --> See nearby quakes!
247 km (153 mi) S of Sola (pop: 1,170) --> See nearby quakes!
415 km (258 mi) NNW of Isangel (pop: 1,440) --> See nearby quakes!
38 km (24 mi) WNW of Ambrym Island (pop: 7,280) --> See nearby quakes!
39 km (24 mi) NE of Malakula Island (pop: 22,900) --> See nearby quakes!
418 km (260 mi) NNW of Tanna Island (pop: 28,800) --> See nearby quakes!

Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Overcast Clouds

29.6°C (85 F), humidity: 75%, wind: 4 m/s (7 kts) from NNW

Primary data source: GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
Estimated released energy: 8.9 x 10¹³ joules (24.8 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 21301 tons of TNT or 1.3 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy

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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.

Mag.	Depth	Location	Source
6.1	166 km	Vanuatu Islands	GFZ
6.1	162 km	VANUATU	EMSC
6.1	160 km	47 Km E of Lakatoro, Vanuatu	USGS
6.0	161 km	Vanuatu Islands	GeoAu
6.0	162 km	Vanuatu Islands	BMKG

Most recent quakes Top 20 past 24 hrs Quakes in Vanuatu

User reports for this quake (3)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.

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Brawley, CA. / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s : Happening lately around this time. Bed time. | 4 users found this interesting.

Birmingham UK (15860.5 km N of epicenter) [Map] / not felt : I didn’t feel a thing | One user found this interesting.

Port-Vila (187 km SSE of epicenter) [Map] / not felt (reported through our app)

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Aftershocks

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Recorded aftershocks, latest first (11 quakes)

Date and time	Mag Depth	Location	Details
Jul 5, 2021 02:23 28 weeks ago	4.9 126 km	Coral Sea, 63 km E of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Jun 20, 2021 16:46 30 weeks ago	4.3 251 km	Coral Sea, 21 km SE of Pentecost Island, Penama Province, Vanuatu	More
May 30, 2021 15:14 33 weeks ago	4.5 140 km	Coral Sea, 44 km E of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
May 22, 2021 07:37 34 weeks ago	4.6 193 km	Coral Sea, 21 km NW of Pentecost Island, Penama Province, Vanuatu	More
May 7, 2021 02:40 37 weeks ago	4.9 47 km	Coral Sea, 48 km SE of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
May 6, 2021 12:20 37 weeks ago	5.1 10 km	Coral Sea, 33 km S of Malakula Island, Malampa Province, Vanuatu	More
May 1, 2021 11:50 37 weeks ago	5.2 181 km	Coral Sea, 33 km E of Malakula Island, Malampa Province, Vanuatu	More
Apr 2, 2021 03:06 42 weeks ago	4.6 180 km	Ambrym, 74 km E of Norsup, Malampa Province, Vanuatu	More
Mar 12, 2021 01:03 45 weeks ago	5.4 154 km	Coral Sea, 45 km SW of Pentecost Island, Penama Province, Vanuatu	More
Feb 16, 2021 08:07 48 weeks ago	5.1 100 km	Coral Sea, 64 km E of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Jan 11, 2021 21:30 1 year 1 weeks ago	4.7 151 km	Coral Sea, 24 km NW of Pentecost Island, Penama Province, Vanuatu	More

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