Strong mag. 5.0 earthquake - Coral Sea, 157 km southwest of Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu, on Saturday, 26 Dec 2020 7:47 am (GMT +11) -
Quake Data | Interactive map | User Reports | Aftershocks | Earlier quakes in same area | Quakes in Vanuatu| Shefa Province | Loyalty Islands | Tafea Province | Malampa Province | Sanma Province | South Province

Strong magnitude 5.0 earthquake at 10 km depth
25 Dec 21:08 UTC: First to report: USGS after 20 minutes.
25 Dec 21:43: Magnitude recalculated from 5.3 to 5.0. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 23.4 to 10.0 km (from 14.5 to 6.2 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 28 km (17 mi) towards SE.
25 Dec 21:43: Magnitude recalculated from 5.3 to 5.0. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 23.4 to 10.0 km (from 14.5 to 6.2 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 28 km (17 mi) towards SE.
Date & time: 25 Dec 2020 20:47:48 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Saturday, 26 Dec 2020 7:47 am (GMT +11)
Magnitude: 5
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 18.7062°S / 167.2402°E

Nearest volcano: North Vate (181 km / 112 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
157 km (97 mi) SW of Port Vila (pop: 35,900) --> See nearby quakes!
229 km (142 mi) NNE of Fayaoué (New Caledonia) (pop: 4,410) --> See nearby quakes!
234 km (145 mi) WNW of Isangel (pop: 1,440) --> See nearby quakes!
246 km (153 mi) N of Wé (Lifou, New Caledonia) (pop: 10,400) --> See nearby quakes!
294 km (183 mi) S of Norsup (pop: 3,000) --> See nearby quakes!
323 km (201 mi) NNW of Tadine (Maré, New Caledonia) (pop: 7,490) --> See nearby quakes!
354 km (220 mi) S of Luganville (pop: 13,400) --> See nearby quakes!
392 km (244 mi) NNE of Dumbéa (New Caledonia) (pop: 19,300) --> See nearby quakes!
402 km (250 mi) N of Mont-Dore (New Caledonia) (pop: 24,700) --> See nearby quakes!
405 km (252 mi) N of Noumea (New Caledonia) (pop: 93,100) --> See nearby quakes!
237 km (147 mi) WNW of Tanna Island (pop: 28,800) --> See nearby quakes!
271 km (169 mi) SSW of Paama Island (pop: 1,630) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Overcast Clouds
27.3°C (81 F), humidity: 81%, wind: 7 m/s (14 kts) from ENE
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)Overcast Clouds

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 | 10 km | - 156 km SW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu | USGS |
M 5.0 | 40 km | VANUATU | EMSC |
M 5.0 | 10 km | Vanuatu Islands | GFZ |
M 5.0 | 10 km | 156 Km SW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu | USGS |
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 (1 quakes):- 27 Dec 2020 15:16 UTC| M 5.4 |10 km (6.2 mi) depth|13 km (8 mi) distance| USGS | Details
Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900
- Date / time UTC| Mag |Depth|Age|Distance| Details
- 20 Sep 1920 14:39| 8.1 |25km / 16mi|100 years ago|204km / 127mi| Coral Sea, 1 km SW of Isangel, Tafea Province, Vanuatu
- 02 Dec 1950 19:51| 7.9 |30km / 19mi|70 years ago|57km / 36mi| Coral Sea, 99 km SW of Port-Vila, Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu
- 11 Oct 1992 19:24| 7.4 |129km / 80mi|28 years ago|189km / 118mi| Coral Sea, 49 km NW of Tanna Island, Tafea Province, Vanuatu
- 25 Dec 2010 13:16| 7.3 |16km / 9.9mi|10 years ago|133km / 83mi| Coral Sea, 326 km NE of Numea, Nouméa, South Province, New Caledonia
- 10 Aug 2010 05:23| 7.3 |25km / 16mi|11 years ago|156km / 97mi| Coral Sea, 34 km NW of Port-Vila, Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu
- 23 Jul 1961 21:51| 7.3 |25km / 16mi|60 years ago|119km / 74mi| Coral Sea, 64 km S of Port-Vila, Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu
- 09 Nov 1910 06:02| 7.3 |20km / 12.4mi|110 years ago|271km / 169mi| Coral Sea, 58 km SW of Norsup, Malampa Province, Vanuatu
- 20 Aug 2011 16:55| 7.2 |32km / 20mi|10 years ago|102km / 64mi| Coral Sea, 72 km S of Port-Vila, Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu
- 02 Jan 2002 17:22| 7.2 |21km / 13mi|19 years ago|139km / 86mi| Coral Sea, 51 km W of Port-Vila, Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu
- 13 Jul 1994 02:35| 7.2 |33km / 21mi|27 years ago|234km / 145mi| Coral Sea, 39 km S of Malakula Island, Malampa Province, Vanuatu
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