QuakeScout
Magnitude6.7

Reviewed by USGSVanuatu82y ago

M6.7 earthquake 54 km WSW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu

Sunday, December 10, 1944, 16:24:58 UTC · 17.918°S, 167.834°E

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 54 km WSW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu on Sunday, December 10, 1944, 16:24:58 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on November 24, 1944.

Magnitude
6.7
Strong · mw
Depth
15 km
Shallow
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
VI
Strong (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert
None
Not issued
Tsunami
No flag
USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

142 kilotons of TNT

That is about 9 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 299 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

52 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the New Hebrides and Australian 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 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 50 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.11920 Vanuatu EarthquakeSeptember 20, 1920 · 239 km S of this epicenter
  2. 7.828 km ESE of Isangel, VanuatuJune 16, 1910 · 260 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 7.663 km NW of Isangel, VanuatuOctober 14, 1913 · 173 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.447 km WSW of Norsup, VanuatuNovember 9, 1910 · 203 km NW of this epicenter
  5. 7.247 km NNW of Isangel, VanuatuNovember 24, 1944 · 196 km SE of this epicenter
  6. 7.2113 km SSE of Port-Vila, VanuatuMarch 22, 1925 · 120 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 7.1157 km E of Lakatoro, VanuatuOctober 11, 1907 · 227 km NE of this epicenter
  8. 7.184 km SW of Port-Vila, VanuatuJanuary 24, 1927 · 42 km S of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 22 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 26 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1875M8.1

    Loyalty Islands: Lifou Island

    28 Mar 1875 · 242 km away

    26 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  2. 1909

    Espiritu Santo

    8 Jul 1909 · 277 km away

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  3. 1920M8.1

    Loyalty Islands

    20 Sep 1920 · 239 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  4. 1878M7.5

    Tanna Island

    10 Jan 1878 · 139 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  5. 1933M6.4

    Malekula

    19 Nov 1933 · 114 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  6. 1913M8.1

    Vanuatu Islands

    14 Oct 1913 · 215 km away

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages