Moderate mag. 5.0 earthquake - Coral Sea, 9.2 km southwest of Paama Island, Malampa Province, Vanuatu, on 2018-12-17 03:15:45 +11:00
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Moderate magnitude 5.0 earthquake at 59 km depth
16 Dec 16:58 UTC: First to report: USGS after 42 minutes.
Hypocenter depth recalculated from 58.9 to 58.5 km.
Hypocenter depth recalculated from 58.9 to 58.5 km.
Local time at epicenter: 2018-12-17 03:15:45 +11:00
Magnitude: 5
Depth: 58.5 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 16.5137°S / 168.1728°E

Nearest volcano: Lopevi (19 km / 12 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
93 km (58 mi) ESE of Lakatoro (pop: 705) --> See nearby quakes!
137 km (85 mi) N of Port Vila (pop: 35,900) --> See nearby quakes!
155 km (96 mi) SE of Luganville (pop: 13,400) --> See nearby quakes!
202 km (125 mi) SE of Port-Olry (pop: 1,950) --> See nearby quakes!
301 km (187 mi) SSE of Sola (pop: 1,170) --> See nearby quakes!
357 km (222 mi) NNW of Isangel (pop: 1,440) --> See nearby quakes!
9 km (6 mi) SW of Paama Island (pop: 1,630) --> See nearby quakes!
76 km (47 mi) ESE of Malakula Island (pop: 22,900) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
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 | 59 km | - 91km ESE of Lakatoro, Vanuatu | USGS |
User reports for this quake (1)
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Tavuale Paama / Moderate shaking (MMI V)
Aftershocks of the 5.0 quake Coral Sea, 9.2 km southwest of Paama Island, Malampa Province, Vanuatu, 2018-12-17 03:15:45 +11:00
More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (5 quakes):- 17 Dec 2018 08:04 UTC| M 4.9 |10 km (6.2 mi) depth|17 km (11 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 17 Dec 2018 07:16 UTC| M 4.8 |10 km (6.2 mi) depth|18 km (11 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 17 Dec 2018 06:52 UTC| M 4.7 |10 km (6.2 mi) depth|17 km (11 mi) distance| USGS | Details
- 16 Dec 2018 18:28 UTC| M 4.9 |35 km (21.7 mi) depth|5 km (3 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
Earlier earthquakes in the same area
Moderate mag. 5.0 earthquake - Coral Sea, 9.2 km southwest of Paama Island, Malampa Province, Vanuatu, on 2018-12-17 03:15:45 +11:00Click here to search our database for earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900!