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Very strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - VANUATU on Thursday, 18 February 2021 at 06:37 (GMT) - information

Very strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - Coral Sea, 133 km south of Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu, on Thursday, Feb 18, 2021 at 5:37 pm (GMT +11)

Very strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - Coral Sea, 133 km south of Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu, on Thursday, Feb 18, 2021 at 5:37 pm (GMT +11) Very strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - Coral Sea, 133 km south of Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu, on Thursday, Feb 18, 2021 at 5:37 pm (GMT +11)

Very strong magnitude 6.2 earthquake at 10 km depth

18 Feb 06:46 UTC: First to report: EMSC after 9 minutes.
18 Feb 06:48: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 10.0 to 60.0 km (from 6.2 to 37 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 18 km (11 mi) towards SE.
... [show all] ...
18 Feb 07:05: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 60.0 to 10.0 km (from 37 to 6.2 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 7.9 km (4.9 mi) towards N.
Update Thu, 18 Feb 2021, 06:51

Significant magnitude 5.7 quake hits 140 km southwest of Port Vila, Vanuatu in the afternoon

5.7 quake 18 Feb 5:37 pm (GMT +11)
5.7 quake 18 Feb 5:37 pm (GMT +11)
An earthquake of magnitude 5.7 occurred only 14 minutes ago 140 km southwest of Port Vila, Vanuatu, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported.
The quake hit at a shallow depth of 10 km beneath the epicenter near Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu, in the afternoon on Thursday 18 February 2021 at 5:37 pm local time. 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 German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) which listed the quake at magnitude 6.1.
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 Port Vila (pop. 35,900) located 140 km from the epicenter.
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 details

Date & timeFeb 18, 2021 06:37:31 UTC
Local time at epicenterThursday, Feb 18, 2021 at 5:37 pm (GMT +11)
StatusConfirmed
Magnitude6.2
Depth10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude18.9°S / 168.02°E (Coral Sea, Vanuatu)
Antipode18.9°N / 11.98°W
Shaking intensityVery strong shaking near epicenter
Felt2 reports
Primary data sourceEMSC (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre)
Nearest volcanoTraitor's Head (128 km / 80 mi)
Nearby towns and cities133 km (83 mi) SSW of Port Vila (pop: 35,900) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
151 km (94 mi) WNW of Isangel (pop: 1,440) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
238 km (148 mi) NNE of Wé (Lifou, New Caledonia) (pop: 10,400) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
249 km (155 mi) NE of Fayaoué (New Caledonia) (pop: 4,410) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
295 km (183 mi) N of Tadine (Maré, New Caledonia) (pop: 7,490) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
322 km (200 mi) SSE of Norsup (pop: 3,000) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
387 km (240 mi) SSE of Santo (Luganville) (pop: 13,400) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
397 km (247 mi) NNE of Dumbéa (New Caledonia) (pop: 19,300) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
403 km (251 mi) NNE of Mont-Dore (New Caledonia) (pop: 24,700) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
409 km (254 mi) NNE of Noumea (New Caledonia) (pop: 93,100) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
160 km (99 mi) WNW of Tanna Island (pop: 28,800) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
Weather at epicenter at time of quakeLight Rain 28.8°C (84 F), humidity: 68%, wind: 0 m/s (1 kts) from W
Estimated seismic energy released1.3 x 1014 joules (35 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 30089 tons of TNT or 1.9 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy
Show interactive Map
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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.DepthLocationSource
6.210 kmVANUATUEMSC
6.210 kmVanuatu IslandsGFZ
6.110 km135 Km SSW of Port-Vila, VanuatuUSGS
6.229 kmVanuatu IslandsGeoAu
6.319 kmVanuatu Islands [Sea: Vanuatu]INGV
6.110 kmVanuatu IslandsBMKG

User reports for this quake (2)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Translate
Eton reef, Efate (134.7 km NNE of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s
port vila / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s

Aftershocks

[More info]

Recorded aftershocks, latest first (3 quakes)

Date and timeMag
Depth
LocationDetails
Aug 8, 2021 14:37
1 year 43 weeks ago
4.8

40 km
Coral Sea, 155 km S of Port Vila, Shefa Province, VanuatuMore
May 29, 2021 01:44
2 years ago
4.7

35 km
Coral Sea, 69 km S of Port Vila, Shefa Province, VanuatuMore
Apr 27, 2021 13:07
2 years ago
4.9

10 km
Coral Sea, 167 km SW of Port Vila, Shefa Province, VanuatuMore

Earlier earthquakes in the same area

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