Reviewed by USGS80y ago
M6.5 earthquake in Vanuatu
Thursday, July 24, 1947, 12:16:55 UTC · 18.713°S, 169.828°E
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck in Vanuatu on Thursday, July 24, 1947, 12:16:55 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on December 10, 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
85 kilotons of TNT
That is about 6 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 178 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
223 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the New Hebrides and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 63 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.11920 Vanuatu EarthquakeSeptember 20, 1920 · 200 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.828 km ESE of Isangel, VanuatuJune 16, 1910 · 103 km S of this epicenter
- 7.663 km NW of Isangel, VanuatuOctober 14, 1913 · 104 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.247 km NNW of Isangel, VanuatuNovember 24, 1944 · 82 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.2113 km SSE of Port-Vila, VanuatuMarch 22, 1925 · 133 km W of this epicenter
- 7.1175 km SE of Isangel, VanuatuMarch 30, 1910 · 233 km S of this epicenter
- 7.184 km SW of Port-Vila, VanuatuJanuary 24, 1927 · 224 km W of this epicenter
- 7.148 km SSW of Isangel, VanuatuApril 5, 1939 · 157 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 19 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 26 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1875M8.1
Loyalty Islands: Lifou Island
28 Mar 1875 · 200 km away
26 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1920M8.1
Loyalty Islands
20 Sep 1920 · 200 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1878M7.5
Tanna Island
10 Jan 1878 · 143 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1933M6.4
Malekula
19 Nov 1933 · 297 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1913M8.1
Vanuatu Islands
14 Oct 1913 · 123 km away
- 1878M8.0
Vanuatu Islands
11 Feb 1878 · 143 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.