Moderate mag. 5.0 earthquake - Coral Sea, 13 km west of Paama Island, Malampa Province, Vanuatu, on Sunday, 16 December 2018 at 15:03 (GMT)
This quake was likely an aftershock of the 5.6 quake 88 km east of Norsup, Malampa Province, Vanuatu, 16 December 2018 09:48 GMT, which had occurred 5 hours earlier.
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Moderate magnitude 5.0 earthquake at 36 km depth
16 Dec 15:12 UTC: First to report: GeoAu after 9 minutes.
Hypocenter depth recalculated from 25.6 to 36.3 km.
Hypocenter depth recalculated from 25.6 to 36.3 km.
Magnitude: 5
Depth: 36.3 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 16.464°S / 168.121°E

Nearest volcano: Ambrym (23 km / 14 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
85 km (53 mi) ESE of Lakatoro (pop: 705) --> See nearby quakes!
143 km (89 mi) N of Port Vila (pop: 35,900) --> See nearby quakes!
147 km (91 mi) SE of Luganville (pop: 13,400) --> See nearby quakes!
194 km (121 mi) SE of Port-Olry (pop: 1,950) --> See nearby quakes!
294 km (183 mi) SSE of Sola (pop: 1,170) --> See nearby quakes!
364 km (226 mi) NNW of Isangel (pop: 1,440) --> See nearby quakes!
13 km (8 mi) W of Paama Island (pop: 1,630) --> See nearby quakes!
69 km (43 mi) ESE of Malakula Island (pop: 22,900) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: GeoAu (Geoscience Australia )
Estimated released energy: 2 x 1012 joules (554 megawatt hours, equivalent to 477 tons of TNT) More info
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.
Magnitude | Depth | Location | Source |
M 5.0 | 36 km | Vanuatu Islands | GeoAu |
M 5.3 | 44 km | - 81km ESE of Lakatoro, Vanuatu | USGS |
M 5.2 | 55 km | VANUATU | EMSC |
User reports for this quake
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
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There are no user reports for this quake yet. If you felt it Aftershocks
More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (5 quakes):- 17 Dec 2018 08:04 UTC| M 4.9 |10 km (6.2 mi) depth|18 km (11 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 17 Dec 2018 07:16 UTC| M 4.8 |10 km (6.2 mi) depth|12 km (7 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 16 Dec 2018 18:28 UTC| M 4.9 |35 km (21.7 mi) depth|11 km (7 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 16 Dec 2018 17:59 UTC| M 4.7 |35 km (21.7 mi) depth|7 km (4 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 16 Dec 2018 16:15 UTC| M 5.0 |58.5 km (36.4 mi) depth|8 km (5 mi) distance| USGS | Details
Earlier earthquakes in the same area
Moderate mag. 5.0 earthquake - Coral Sea, 13 km west of Paama Island, Malampa Province, Vanuatu, on Sunday, 16 December 2018 at 15:03 (GMT)Click here to search our database for earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900!