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Strong mag. 6.0 Earthquake - Coral Sea, 47 km northeast of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu, on Thursday, Mar 24, 2022 08:57 am (Efate time)

Strong magnitude 6.0 earthquake at 116 km depth

23 Mar 22:05 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 8 minutes.
23 Mar 22:07: Magnitude recalculated from 5.8 to 5.7. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 120.0 to 124.0 km (from 75 to 77 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 16 km (9.8 mi) towards NNE.
23 Mar 22:16: Now using data updates from USGS
23 Mar 23:20: Magnitude recalculated from 5.9 to 6.0. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 112.9 to 115.7 km (from 70 to 72 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 2.8 km (1.7 mi) towards SSE.

Earthquake details

Date & time	Mar 23, 2022 21:57:00 UTC
Local time at epicenter	Thursday, Mar 24, 2022 08:57 am (Pacific/Efate GMT +11)
Status	Confirmed
Magnitude	6
Depth	115.7 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude	15.1542°S / 167.3908°E Coral Sea, Vanuatu
Antipode	15.1542°N / 12.609°W
Shaking intensity	Weak shaking
Felt	1 report
Primary data source	USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Nearest volcano	Aoba (54 km / 34 mi)
Weather at epicenter at time of quake	Overcast Clouds 26.9°C (80 F), humidity: 80%, wind: 6 m/s (11 kts) from NNW
Estimated seismic energy released	6.3 x 10¹³ joules (17.5 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 15080 tons of TNT or 0.9 atomic bombs!) \| about seismic energy

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Nearby places

Distance	Place	Max. shaking intensity(*)	Region	Country
36 km (23 mi) WNW of epicenter	Port-Olry (pop: 1,950)	IV Light	Sanma Province	Vanuatu
47 km (30 mi) SSW of epicenter	Santo (pop: 13,400)	IV Light	Sanma Province	Vanuatu
101 km (63 mi) S of epicenter	Norsup (pop: 3,000)	IV Light	Malampa Province	Vanuatu
143 km (89 mi) N of epicenter	Sola (pop: 1,170)	IV Light	Torba	Vanuatu
304 km (189 mi) SSE of epicenter	Port Vila (pop: 35,900)	III Weak	Shefa Province	Vanuatu

Notes:
(*) Shaking intensity according to the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) and estimated using seismic models.

Compare Quake Data

Data for the same earthquake as reported by different agencies

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	Time GMT	Epicenter	Agency
6.0	116 km (72 mi)	2022-03-23 21:57:00	36 Km ESE of Port-Olry, Vanuatu	USGS (United States Geological Survey)
6.1	122 km (76 mi)	2022-03-23 21:57:00	VANUATU 14 km (8.5 mi) epicenter difference with USGS	EMSC (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre)
5.5	149 km (93 mi)	2022-03-23 21:57:04	Vanuatu: Near Nouméa 9.3 km (5.8 mi) epicenter difference with USGS	RENASS (Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS))
6.0	116 km (72 mi)	2022-03-23 21:57:00	Vanuatu Islands 0 km (0 mi) epicenter difference with USGS	RaspberryShake (RaspberryShake)
6.0	104 km (65 mi)	2022-03-23 21:57:00	Vanuatu Islands [Sea: Vanuatu] 15 km (9.2 mi) epicenter difference with USGS	INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia)
6.0	170 km (106 mi)	2022-03-23 21:57:05	Vanuatu Islands 2 km (1.3 mi) epicenter difference with USGS	GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
6.0	116 km (72 mi)	2022-03-23 21:57:00	Vanuatu Islands 8.6 km (5.4 mi) epicenter difference with USGS	GeoAu (Geoscience Australia )

Most recent quakes Top 20 past 24 hrs Quakes in Vanuatu

Seismograms

Seismic station: Honiara, Solomon Islands (HNR/IU network) | Distance from quake: 1028 km / 639 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Honiara, Solomon Islands: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.02-5.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

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Seismic station Honiara, Solomon Islands: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Honiara, Solomon Islands: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake, showing horizontal E-W and N-S ground movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Monasavu, Fiji (MSVF/II network) | Distance from quake: 1173 km / 729 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Monasavu, Fiji: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Monasavu, Fiji: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Monasavu, Fiji: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Funafuti, Tuvalu (FUNA/IU network) | Distance from quake: 1480 km / 920 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Funafuti, Tuvalu: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Funafuti, Tuvalu: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Funafuti, Tuvalu: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Raoul, Kermadec Islands (RAO/IU network) | Distance from quake: 2173 km / 1350 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Raoul, Kermadec Islands: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.02-2.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station Raoul, Kermadec Islands: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Raoul, Kermadec Islands: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Gagan, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands (KWJN/II network) | Distance from quake: 2718 km / 1689 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Gagan, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.02-2.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station Gagan, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Gagan, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

User-reports for this quake (2)

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

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Brisbane / not felt (reported through our app)

Port vila / Weak shaking (MMI III) (reported through our app)

Aftershocks

[More info]

Recorded aftershocks, latest first (15 quakes)

Date and Time GMT	Mag Depth	Region	Details
Sep 8, 2022 22:13 1 year 12 weeks ago	4.6 124 km	Coral Sea, 55 km NE of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Sep 5, 2022 18:20 1 year 12 weeks ago	4.6 126 km	Coral Sea, 78 km N of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Sep 3, 2022 11:35 1 year 13 weeks ago	4.7 118 km	Coral Sea, 38 km NE of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Sep 3, 2022 11:01 1 year 13 weeks ago	4.6 161 km	Coral Sea, 98 km N of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Sep 3, 2022 05:57 1 year 13 weeks ago	4.8 120 km	Coral Sea, 68 km N of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Jul 24, 2022 19:30 1 year 18 weeks ago	5.0 129 km	Coral Sea, 78 km N of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Jul 14, 2022 23:17 1 year 20 weeks ago	5.1 22 km	Coral Sea, 61 km NW of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Jul 14, 2022 17:50 1 year 20 weeks ago	5.8 22 km	Coral Sea, 58 km NW of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Jul 8, 2022 01:01 1 year 21 weeks ago	5.4 95 km	Coral Sea, 72 km N of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Jun 13, 2022 17:26 1 year 24 weeks ago	4.9 224 km	Penama Province, 70 km E of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
May 11, 2022 14:20 1 year 29 weeks ago	5.2 123 km	Coral Sea, 45 km NE of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
May 6, 2022 08:41 1 year 30 weeks ago	5.0 56 km	Coral Sea, 66 km NW of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Apr 8, 2022 19:40 1 year 34 weeks ago	5.0 111 km	Coral Sea, 70 km NE of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Mar 29, 2022 04:08 1 year 35 weeks ago	4.5 133 km	Coral Sea, 94 km N of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More
Mar 24, 2022 08:09 1 year 36 weeks ago	4.6 133 km	Coral Sea, 51 km NE of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu	More

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