Quake Info: Moderate Mag. 4.9 Earthquake - Coral Sea, 49 km South of Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu, on Wednesday, Dec 8, 2021 at 3:51 am (GMT +11)

Moderate magnitude 4.9 earthquake at 38 km depth

7 Dec 16:58 UTC: First to report: VolcanoDiscovery after 6 minutes.
7 Dec 17:14: Now using data updates from EMSC
... [show all] ...
13 Dec 21:52: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 35.0 to 38.4 km (from 22 to 24 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 19 km (12 mi) towards E.

Update Tue, 7 Dec 2021, 17:18

Significant magnitude 5.0 earthquake 60 km south of Port Vila, Vanuatu

5.0 quake 8 Dec 3:51 am (GMT +11)

An earthquake of magnitude 5.0 occurred early morning on Wednesday, December 8th, 2021, at 3:51 am local time near Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu, as reported by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC).
According to preliminary data, the quake was located at a moderately shallow depth of 40 km. 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.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Port Vila (pop. 35,900) located 60 km from the epicenter.
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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Earthquake details

Date & time	Dec 7, 2021 16:51:34 UTC
Local time at epicenter	Wednesday, Dec 8, 2021 at 3:51 am (GMT +11)
Status	Confirmed
Magnitude	4.9
Depth	38.4 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude	18.157°S / 168.1676°E (Coral Sea, Vanuatu)
Antipode	18.157°N / 11.832°W
Shaking intensity	Light shaking
Felt	8 reports
Primary data source	USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Nearest volcano	North Vate (79 km / 49 mi)
Nearby towns and cities	49 km (31 mi) SSW of Port Vila (pop: 35,900) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 194 km (120 mi) NW of Isangel (pop: 1,440) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 247 km (153 mi) SSE of Norsup (pop: 3,000) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 312 km (194 mi) SSE of Santo (Luganville) (pop: 13,400) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 321 km (200 mi) NNE of Wé (Lifou, New Caledonia) (pop: 10,400) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 326 km (203 mi) NNE of Fayaoué (New Caledonia) (pop: 4,410) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 366 km (227 mi) SSE of Port-Olry (pop: 1,950) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 378 km (235 mi) N of Tadine (Maré, New Caledonia) (pop: 7,490) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 428 km (266 mi) NE of Poindimié (New Caledonia) (pop: 4,890) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 471 km (293 mi) NE of Bourail (New Caledonia) (pop: 4,830) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 189 km (117 mi) S of Paama Island (pop: 1,630) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 199 km (124 mi) NW of Tanna Island (pop: 28,800) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby
Weather at epicenter at time of quake	Few Clouds 23.1°C (74 F), humidity: 81%, wind: 6 m/s (12 kts) from E
Estimated seismic energy released	1.4 x 10¹² joules (392 megawatt hours, equivalent to 338 tons of TNT) \| about seismic energy

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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.

Mag.	Depth	Location	Source
4.9	38 km	56 Km SW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu	USGS
4.9	40 km	VANUATU	EMSC
4.9	35 km	Vanuatu Islands	RaspberryShake
5.0	40 km	Vanuatu Islands	GeoAu
4.9	34 km	Vanuatu Islands	GFZ
5.3	10 km	Vanuatu: Near Nouméa	RENASS

Most recent quakes Top 20 past 24 hrs Quakes in New Caledonia

User reports for this quake (8)

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In bed / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 10-15 s : Could hear it coming as it woke me prior to the main horizontal shake with a couple of twitches afterwards

Independence Park Area, Port Vila / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 30-60 s : Light shaking...we live on the 1st floor of an apartment. It was clearly felt by all my family members who woke up a few seconds into the shaking...our neighbours also woke up..

near Port Vila, Shefa (45.2 km NE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s : Loud noise and then quake woke me up

Port Vila (47.5 km NNE of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 1-2 s

Vanuatu (49.7 km NNE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s

Port Vila, Shefa (53.9 km NNE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / complex motion difficult to describe / 5-10 s (reported through our app)

Port Vila, Shefa (52.8 km N of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / complex rolling (tilting in multiple directions) / 20-30 s (reported through our app)

Havannah, PortVila / Weak shaking (MMI III)

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Moderate mag. 4.9 earthquake - Coral Sea, 49 km south of Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu, on Wednesday, Dec 8, 2021 at 3:51 am (GMT +11)