Earthquakes in Vanuatu — Page 4

Vanuatu records earthquakes steadily rather than in isolated bursts, with 96 events in the past 30 days, and 165 of the events on record reached magnitude 5 or above — the level at which damage becomes a genuine concern for vulnerable construction. Vanuatu sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and the depth distribution below shows the subducting slab beneath it directly.

382 earthquakes have been recorded in Vanuatu in our catalogue, 96 of them in the past 30 days.

The average magnitude is 5.0 and the average focal depth 91 km. 382 events reached magnitude 4 or above and 165 reached magnitude 5 or above.

The strongest earthquake recorded in Vanuatu in this period was a magnitude 7.3 event near Luganville, Vanuatu on 30 March 2026, at a depth of 116 km. A magnitude 7.3 earthquake radiates roughly 1.3 million tons of TNT equivalent in seismic energy.

Locations recording the most events include Isangel (66), Port-Vila (63), Sola (50), Port-Olry (34), Luganville (15).

63% of events here are shallow (under 70 km), 32% intermediate (70–300 km) and 4% deep-focus (over 300 km). A substantial share of intermediate-depth events points to a subducting slab beneath the region rather than purely crustal faulting.

The deepest event on record here was a magnitude 4.3 earthquake at 661 km beneath Sola, Vanuatu on 22 November 2025.

By band, the catalogue holds 217 in the magnitude 4 range, 144 in the magnitude 5 range, 17 in the magnitude 6 range, 4 in the magnitude 7 range.

The busiest single day was 24 October 2026, with 39 recorded events.

9 of these events carry a USGS link to NOAA tsunami information. That link flag does not mean a tsunami occurred or that a warning was issued.