M6.9 earthquake in Vanuatu on October 24, 2026

On October 24, 2026 at 02:31 UTC the ground shook with a magnitude 6.9 earthquake. The epicenter was 197 km west of Port-Olry, with the focus 10 km deep. It was a shallow quake, and shallow quakes are usually felt most strongly at the surface.

6.9magnitude

10 kmdepth

02:31time UTC

greenUSGS alert

Live earthquake map →

Key facts

4 people reported feeling it to USGS. The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert, expecting little impact. USGS flagged the event as an oceanic-region earthquake. Regional tsunami warning centers publish any tsunami information.

Nearest cities

Sunshine Coast (Australia)1,908 km
Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea)2,065 km
Central Coast (Australia)2,586 km
Merauke (Indonesia)2,808 km
Jayapura (Indonesia)3,012 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 38 quakes of magnitude 4.5 or more within 150 km, the strongest M6.3.

M6.3 · Oct 24, 02:35 UTC35 km
M5.9 · Oct 24, 08:56 UTC17 km
M5.8 · Oct 24, 05:23 UTC17 km
M5.8 · Oct 24, 04:12 UTC18 km
M5.7 · Oct 24, 04:05 UTC16 km
M5.4 · Oct 25, 08:41 UTC19 km
M5.3 · Oct 24, 06:04 UTC24 km
M5.3 · Oct 24, 04:19 UTC36 km

Regional history

Since 1976 there have been 177 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 300 km. The strongest was M7.9 (July 17, 1980).

M7.9 · July 17, 1980175 km
M7.8 · October 7, 2009194 km
M7.7 · April 21, 1997204 km
M7.7 · October 7, 2009157 km
M7.5 · July 8, 1980204 km