Reviewed by USGS79y ago
M6.5 earthquake in Vanuatu region
Wednesday, March 10, 1948, 11:25:32 UTC · 21.216°S, 173.649°E
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck in Vanuatu region on Wednesday, March 10, 1948, 11:25:32 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on October 5, 1944.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
88 kilotons of TNT
That is about 6 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 184 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
8 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Conway Reef and New Hebrides plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
15 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.2 on March 16, 1948. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 38 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.2southeast of the Loyalty IslandsNovember 14, 1906 · 256 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsAugust 17, 1935 · 256 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsApril 14, 1906 · 268 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.0southeast of the Loyalty IslandsAugust 25, 1926 · 256 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.0southeast of the Loyalty IslandsOctober 5, 1944 · 222 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.8southeast of the Loyalty IslandsMarch 10, 1906 · 215 km W of this epicenter
- 6.7southeast of the Loyalty IslandsJuly 17, 1905 · 274 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.6southeast of the Loyalty IslandsMarch 10, 1906 · 282 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1943M7.5
Loyalty Islands
14 Sep 1943 · 287 km away
- 1944M7.5
Loyalty Islands
5 Oct 1944 · 222 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.