Reviewed by USGS32y ago
M4.2 earthquake in Vanuatu
Thursday, April 14, 1994, 09:23:39 UTC · 20.389°S, 169.287°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck in Vanuatu on Thursday, April 14, 1994, 09:23:39 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- 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
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
85 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
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 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 763 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 · 96 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.999 km SW of Port-Vila, VanuatuDecember 2, 1950 · 282 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.828 km ESE of Isangel, VanuatuJune 16, 1910 · 92 km N of this epicenter
- 7.663 km NW of Isangel, VanuatuOctober 14, 1913 · 150 km N of this epicenter
- 7.6274 km ESE of Tadine, New CaledoniaMarch 16, 1928 · 247 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.447 km NW of Isangel, VanuatuOctober 11, 1992 · 132 km N of this epicenter
- 7.363 km S of Port-Vila, VanuatuJuly 23, 1961 · 254 km NW 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:
- 1875M8.1
Loyalty Islands: Lifou Island
28 Mar 1875 · 93 km away
26 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1901M7.9
Loyalty Islands
9 Aug 1901 · 194 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1920M8.1
Loyalty Islands
20 Sep 1920 · 96 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1878M7.5
Tanna Island
10 Jan 1878 · 175 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1961M7.3
Vanuatu Islands
23 Jul 1961 · 237 km away · intensity VI
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1913M8.1
Vanuatu Islands
14 Oct 1913 · 103 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.