M6.3 earthquake 35 km ESE of Saratamata, Penama, Vanuatu

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 35 km ESE of Saratamata, Penama, Vanuatu at 20:00 local time (09:00 UTC) on 8 Oct 2026, at a depth of 19 km, according to USGS, GFZ and INGV.

Reported by 3 agencies · revised from M6.2 · 5 reports to USGS “Did You Feel It?”

Data: USGS, GFZ, INGV · updated 2026-11-03 07:06 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude: 6.3strong
moment magnitude (W phase) (mww)
revised from 6.2
Depth: 19 km
Status: Reviewed
Origin time: 2026-10-08 09:00:08 UTC; Local: 8 Oct 2026, 20:00:08 (Pacific/Efate)
Epicentre: 15.433° S, 168.278° E

Circles show this event and others within 178 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map

Nearby places

Distance and estimated shaking at nearby places
Place	Distance	Est. shaking
SaratamataPenama, Vanuatu · pop. 0	35 km	VIStrong
LakatoroMalampa, Vanuatu · pop. 705	118 km	IVLight

Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more. Likely felt out to about 518 km.

Every agency's solution

Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS, which has been reviewed by an analyst.

Agency	Magnitude	Depth	Epicentre	Time offset	Status
GFZGFZ via GEOFON, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences	6.3 Mwwas 6.3	15 km	15.41° S, 168.32° E	−0.4 s	Automatic · 4 revisions
USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey	6.3 mwwwas 6.6	19 km	15.43° S, 168.28° E	–	Reviewed · 2 revisions
INGVSURVEY-INGV-A via Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia	6.3 Mwp	19.9 km	15.54° S, 168.27° E	+1.9 s	Automatic

How big was it?

Can cause damage over tens of kilometres, depending on depth, local ground and how buildings are built.

It released roughly the energy of 43 kt of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 19 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.

Compare M6.3 with M5.3

M6.3 releases about 32× the energy of M5.3, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 43 kt of TNT vs 1.3 kt of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M5.3. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

16 later earthquakes within 178 km; the largest was M6.2 14 days ago. 4 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M6.3

16 later earthquakes nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)	Magnitude	Depth (km)
9.15	4.5	10
28.86	5.2	10
68.13	4.6	10
203.17	4.2	175
216.00	4.8	10
301.39	4.3	10
373.40	4.4	10
373.71	4.9	10
381.72	5.5	195
401.40	6.1	116
495.14	5.4	10
495.14	5.8	15
495.96	4.9	10
516.78	6.2	143
543.44	4.8	10
589.03	4.2	10

Did you feel it?

Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.

Reports close 14 days after an earthquake.

Reports on SeismoAtlas

No reports yet.

USGS “Did You Feel It?” has 5 reports: add yours at USGS.

Event id gfz2026tsgr. First recorded here 8 Oct 2026, 09:09:34 UTC. Solutions: GFZ (geofon:gfz2026tsgr); USGS (usgs:us6000u0xi); INGV (ingv:47471952). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M6.3 earthquake 35 km ESE of Saratamata, Penama, Vanuatu”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/gfz2026tsgr-m6-3-earthquake-35-km-ese-of-saratamata-penama-vanuatu, data from USGS, GFZ, INGV.

JSON: /api/v1/events/gfz2026tsgr. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.