Major magnitude 6.5 earthquake - Coral Sea, 86 km west of Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu, on Friday, Mar 3, 2023 at 5:04 am (GMT +11) -

An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 occurred only 20 minutes ago 92 km west of Santo, Vanuatu, the United States Geological Survey reported.
The quake hit at a moderately shallow depth of 33 km beneath the epicenter near Santo, Luganville, Sanma Province, Vanuatu, early morning on Friday, March 3rd, 2023, at 5:04 am 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 Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) which listed the quake at magnitude 6.8 as well. Other agencies reporting the same quake include France's Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS) at magnitude 5.7, Geoscience Australia (GeoAu) at magnitude 6.5, the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 6.8, and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 6.2.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should have been widely felt by almost everyone in the area of the epicenter. It might have caused light to moderate damage.
Moderate shaking probably occurred in Santo (pop. 13,400) located 92 km from the epicenter, and Port-Olry (pop. 2,000) 97 km away.
In Norsup (pop. 3,000) located 133 km from the epicenter, and Lakatoro (pop. 710) 137 km away, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
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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Based on its magnitude, the fault that was active during the quake ruptured along a surface of approx. 316 km² (=122 sqare miles) as a first-order estimate. The length of the rupture zone thus was probably around 31 km (19 mi).
Aftershocks typically occur during the weeks and months following the quake at or near the same fault, at distances of up to approx. two times the length of the rupture zone.
The often broadly linear arrangement of aftershock epicenters encompasses the rupture zone of the main shock (check on the map below to verify).

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