M5.0 earthquake 110 km SSE of Isangel, Vanuatu

Tuesday, September 1, 2026, 18:37:28 UTC · 20.449°S, 169.712°E

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 110 km SSE of Isangel, Vanuatu on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, 18:37:28 UTC, at a depth of 122.7 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.0 on August 28, 2026.

Magnitude: 5.0; Moderate · mb
Depth: 123 km; Intermediate
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: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

477 tons of TNT

That is about 1/32 of the Hiroshima bomb. Each whole step in magnitude is about 32 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

121 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: intermediate

123 km

Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.

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 75 km

USGS lists 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km since this event; the largest was M5.4 on September 2, 2026. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 2,056 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 47 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 · 136 km away
26 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1901M7.9
Loyalty Islands
9 Aug 1901 · 175 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1920M8.1
Loyalty Islands
20 Sep 1920 · 139 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1878M7.5
Tanna Island
10 Jan 1878 · 205 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
2018M7.5
Loyalty Islands
5 Dec 2018 · 170 km away · intensity III
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1961M7.3
Vanuatu Islands
23 Jul 1961 · 264 km away · intensity VI
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers