M6.3 earthquake in Vanuatu on October 8, 2026

On October 8, 2026 at 09:00 UTC the ground shook with a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. The epicenter was 102 km northeast of Norsup, with the focus 10 km deep. It was a shallow quake, and shallow quakes are usually felt most strongly at the surface.

6.3magnitude
10 kmdepth
09:00time UTC
greenUSGS alert
Live earthquake map →

Key facts

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

Nearest cities

  • Sunshine Coast (Australia)1,993 km
  • Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea)2,379 km
  • Central Coast (Australia)2,610 km
  • Merauke (Indonesia)3,118 km
  • Jayapura (Indonesia)3,339 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 7 quakes of magnitude 4.5 or more within 150 km, the strongest M6.1.

  • M6.1 · Oct 25, 02:24 UTC113 km
  • M5.5 · Oct 24, 06:43 UTC142 km
  • M5.2 · Oct 9, 13:51 UTC3 km
  • M4.9 · Oct 23, 22:42 UTC14 km
  • M4.8 · Oct 17, 08:59 UTC7 km
  • M4.6 · Oct 11, 05:07 UTC91 km
  • M4.5 · Oct 8, 18:09 UTC27 km

Regional history

Since 1976 there have been 196 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 300 km. The strongest was M7.5 (November 26, 1999).

  • M7.5 · November 26, 199998 km
  • M7.3 · March 30, 202671 km
  • M7.3 · December 17, 2024239 km
  • M7.3 · August 10, 2010223 km
  • M7.2 · May 27, 2010264 km

See also

Live earthquake mapAll earthquakes todayWeather in Sunshine CoastEvent details at USGS

Source: USGS Earthquake Hazards Program (public domain). Seismologists may still revise the data. Data from Oct 9, 09:08 UTC.