Reviewed by USGS39y ago
M5.8 earthquake in Vanuatu region
Wednesday, June 24, 1987, 10:42:25 UTC · 21.243°S, 173.640°E
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck in Vanuatu region on Wednesday, June 24, 1987, 10:42:25 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.8 on June 24, 1987.
- Magnitude
- 5.8
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 33 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
8 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 16 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
11 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
33 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 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 151 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 · 254 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsAugust 17, 1935 · 254 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsApril 14, 1906 · 266 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1southeast of the Loyalty IslandsNovember 15, 1984 · 291 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0southeast of the Loyalty IslandsAugust 25, 1926 · 253 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.0southeast of the Loyalty IslandsOctober 5, 1944 · 219 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.0southeast of the Loyalty IslandsJuly 6, 1981 · 228 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.8southeast of the Loyalty IslandsMarch 10, 1906 · 213 km W 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 · 286 km away
- 1944M7.5
Loyalty Islands
5 Oct 1944 · 219 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.