Earthquakes in Vanuatu, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 586 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Vanuatu. 65 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.9 on December 2, 1950 (99 km SW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 9 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 4.8 on October 17 (110 km NE of Norsup, Vanuatu). The strongest: magnitude 6.3 on October 8 (102 km NE of Norsup, Vanuatu).
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.3 on December 17, 2024 (24 km WNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu), for which NOAA records 14 deaths. 52 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 6 of the events here, 32 in all. NOAA lists 34 tsunamis that began in or off Vanuatu, and 4 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 8 m, on May 16, 1995. The deadliest, on November 26, 1999, killed 5 people here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists 7 significant eruptions of 5 volcanoes in or off Vanuatu. The largest was Ambae on March 30, 2018, at 3 on the volcanic explosivity index. It killed 4 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- December 17, 2024Earthquake · M 7.324 km WNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu · 14 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 30, 2018Eruption · VEI 3Ambae · 4 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- October 7, 2009Earthquake · M 7.7148 km NW of Sola, VanuatuUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 26, 1999Earthquake · M 7.592 km ESE of Lakatoro, Vanuatu · 10 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- November 26, 1999Tsunami · 6.6 m hereVanuatu Islands · 5 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 16, 1995Tsunami · 8 m hereLoyalty IslandsNOAA NCEI
- January 15, 1994Eruption · VEI 3Yasur · one death (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- August 11, 1965Earthquake · M 7.631 km S of Luganville, VanuatuUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- May 20, 1965Earthquake · M 7.745 km NNE of Port-Olry, VanuatuUSGS
- December 2, 1950Earthquake · M 7.999 km SW of Port-Vila, VanuatuUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- March 16, 1928Earthquake · M 7.6274 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Vanuatu when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where Vanuatu is the nearest country.
- USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
- NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
- Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
- A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
- The map frames the box around Vanuatu, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history