Strong mag. 6.8 earthquake - Vanuatu on Monday, 28 September 1987 at 11:47 (GMT)

Strong mag. 6.8 earthquake - Vanuatu on Monday, 28 September 1987 at 11:47 (GMT)

Strong magnitude 6.8 earthquake at 31 km depth

Date & time: 28 Sep 1987 11:47:08 UTC
Magnitude: 6.8
Depth: 30.7 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 18.411°S / 168.058°E (Vanuatu)
Nearest volcano: Fatmalapa (99 km / 62 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
80 km (50 mi) SSW of Port Vila (pop: 35,900) --> See nearby quakes!
180 km (112 mi) NW of Isangel (pop: 1,440) --> See nearby quakes!
270 km (168 mi) SSE of Norsup (pop: 3,000) --> See nearby quakes!
291 km (181 mi) NNE of Wé (Lifou, New Caledonia) (pop: 10,400) --> See nearby quakes!
335 km (208 mi) SSE of Luganville (pop: 13,400) --> See nearby quakes!
349 km (217 mi) N of Tadine (Maré, New Caledonia) (pop: 7,490) --> See nearby quakes!
389 km (242 mi) SSE of Port-Olry (pop: 1,950) --> See nearby quakes!
449 km (279 mi) NNE of Dumbéa (New Caledonia) (pop: 19,300) --> See nearby quakes!
456 km (283 mi) NNE of Mont-Dore (New Caledonia) (pop: 24,700) --> See nearby quakes!
461 km (287 mi) NNE of Noumea (New Caledonia) (pop: 93,100) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 1 x 1015 joules (278 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 2.4 x 105 tons of TNT or 14.9 atomic bombs!) More info
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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.
MagnitudeDepthLocationSource
M 6.831 kmVanuatuUSGS
Note: for quakes of 2012 and earlier, our database often contains only records from USGS.

User reports for this quake

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
There are no user reports for this quake yet. If you felt it be the first to report it!
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Aftershocks of the 6.8 quake Vanuatu 28 September 1987 11:47 GMT

More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (36 quakes):
  • 26 Mar 1988 09:42 UTC
    | M 5.1 |
    17.4 km (10.8 mi) depth
    |
    21 km (13 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 05 Mar 1988 18:24 UTC
    | M 4.6 |
    37.9 km (23.5 mi) depth
    |
    46 km (28 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 05 Mar 1988 12:06 UTC
    | M 5.4 |
    47.7 km (29.6 mi) depth
    |
    36 km (23 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 01 Mar 1988 15:35 UTC
    | M 4.9 |
    151.4 km (94.1 mi) depth
    |
    31 km (19 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 16 Feb 1988 21:42 UTC
    | M 5.1 |
    38.9 km (24.2 mi) depth
    |
    28 km (17 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 07 Feb 1988 05:20 UTC
    | M 4.9 |
    49.4 km (30.7 mi) depth
    |
    86 km (53 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 07 Feb 1988 04:05 UTC
    | M 5.4 |
    22.8 km (14.2 mi) depth
    |
    97 km (60 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 07 Feb 1988 03:33 UTC
    | M 5.4 |
    10 km (6.2 mi) depth
    |
    90 km (56 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 22 Jan 1988 23:13 UTC
    | M 5.0 |
    42.6 km (26.5 mi) depth
    |
    152 km (94 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 21 Jan 1988 09:31 UTC
    | M 4.6 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    8 km (5 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 21 Jan 1988 08:22 UTC
    | M 6.2 |
    44.2 km (27.5 mi) depth
    |
    27 km (17 mi) distance
    | USGS | Strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - Vanuatu on Thursday, 21 January 1988 at 08:22 (GMT)
  • 11 Jan 1988 13:33 UTC
    | M 4.5 |
    21.6 km (13.4 mi) depth
    |
    74 km (46 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 10 Jan 1988 22:17 UTC
    | M 4.8 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    13 km (8 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 22 Dec 1987 05:36 UTC
    | M 4.3 |
    17.9 km (11.1 mi) depth
    |
    21 km (13 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 02 Dec 1987 02:38 UTC
    | M 4.9 |
    43.3 km (26.9 mi) depth
    |
    35 km (22 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 16 Nov 1987 20:16 UTC
    | M 4.2 |
    247.9 km (154 mi) depth
    |
    142 km (88 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
    • Show all

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Earlier earthquakes in the same area

Strong mag. 6.8 earthquake - Vanuatu on Monday, 28 September 1987 at 11:47 (GMT)
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