Reviewed by USGSVanuatu32y ago
M4.2 earthquake 124 km W of Isangel, Vanuatu
Wednesday, March 30, 1994, 10:22:00 UTC · 19.679°S, 168.102°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 124 km W of Isangel, Vanuatu on Wednesday, March 30, 1994, 10:22:00 UTC, at a depth of 87.7 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 88 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
30 tons of TNT
That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
14 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: intermediate
88 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 50 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 733 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 · 52 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.999 km SW of Port-Vila, VanuatuDecember 2, 1950 · 153 km N of this epicenter
- 7.828 km ESE of Isangel, VanuatuJune 16, 1910 · 152 km E of this epicenter
- 7.663 km NW of Isangel, VanuatuOctober 14, 1913 · 108 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.447 km NW of Isangel, VanuatuOctober 11, 1992 · 101 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.363 km S of Port-Vila, VanuatuJuly 23, 1961 · 154 km N of this epicenter
- 7.247 km NNW of Isangel, VanuatuNovember 24, 1944 · 129 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.262 km NE of Isangel, VanuatuJuly 2, 1953 · 174 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 24 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 · 55 km away
26 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1920M8.1
Loyalty Islands
20 Sep 1920 · 52 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1878M7.5
Tanna Island
10 Jan 1878 · 86 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1961M7.3
Vanuatu Islands
23 Jul 1961 · 144 km away · intensity VI
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1913M8.1
Vanuatu Islands
14 Oct 1913 · 96 km away
- 1878M8.0
Vanuatu Islands
11 Feb 1878 · 86 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.