M6.1 earthquake in Vanuatu on August 16, 2026

Strong M6.1 quake: August 16, 2026, 03:20 UTC, epicenter 63 km north of Port-Olry. The rupture began 146 km below the surface. The focus was at intermediate depth, which softens the shaking at the surface compared with a shallow quake of the same size.

6.1magnitude

146 kmdepth

03:20time UTC

greenUSGS alert

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Key facts

1 people reported feeling it to USGS. The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert, expecting little impact.

Nearest cities

Sunshine Coast (Australia)1,998 km
Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea)2,255 km
Central Coast (Australia)2,645 km
Merauke (Indonesia)2,998 km
Jayapura (Indonesia)3,201 km

Did you feel an earthquake?

Report it to seismologists. These reports help work out quickly where the shaking was strongest. It takes a minute.

Report to USGS (Did You Feel It?)Report to EMSC (LastQuake)

Aftershocks

Since then USGS has recorded 16 quakes of magnitude 4.5 or more within 150 km, the strongest M6.1.

M6.1 · Oct 25, 02:24 UTC56 km
M5.5 · Oct 24, 06:43 UTC12 km
M5.2 · Oct 15, 13:06 UTC145 km
M5.2 · Sep 13, 07:19 UTC88 km
M4.9 · Oct 23, 22:42 UTC150 km
M4.9 · Sep 10, 22:54 UTC149 km
M4.8 · Oct 24, 16:54 UTC145 km
M4.8 · Sep 12, 09:35 UTC146 km

Regional history

Since 1976 there have been 194 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 300 km. The strongest was M7.9 (July 17, 1980).

M7.9 · July 17, 1980263 km
M7.8 · October 7, 2009239 km
M7.7 · April 21, 1997222 km
M7.7 · October 7, 2009184 km
M7.5 · July 8, 1980251 km