M5.5 earthquake – Vanuatu Islands

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck in the Vanuatu Islands region at 05:55 local time (18:55 UTC) on 20 Oct 2026, at a depth of 10 km, according to USGS and GFZ.

Reported by 2 agencies

Data: USGS, GFZ · updated 2026-11-08 19:23 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude: 5.5moderate
body-wave magnitude (mb)
Depth: 10 km
Status: Reviewed
Origin time: 2026-10-19 18:55:37 UTC; Local: 20 Oct 2026, 05:55:37 (Pacific/Efate)
Epicentre: 13.981° S, 165.493° E

Circles show this event and others within 71 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
No towns within 400 km. This is a remote area.

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 219 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	5.6 mbwas 5.5	10 km	14.01° S, 165.63° E	+0.3 s	Automatic · 1 revision
USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey	5.5 mbwas 5.7	10 km	13.98° S, 165.49° E	–	Reviewed · 1 revision

How big was it?

Felt by most people over a wide area. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre.

It released roughly the energy of 2.7 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 10 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.

Compare M5.5 with M4.5

M5.5 releases about 32× the energy of M4.5, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 2.7 kt of TNT vs 85 t of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M4.5. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

185 later earthquakes within 71 km; the largest was M6.9 19 days ago. 20 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M5.5

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

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)	Magnitude	Depth (km)
0.10	4.7	10
0.95	4.1	10
2.35	4.3	10
2.69	4.2	10
5.69	4.5	10
5.71	5.0	10
5.99	4.8	10
6.05	4.8	10
6.33	4.6	10
9.42	6.3	16
9.69	4.4	10
9.75	4.5	10
9.82	4.4	10
10.05	4.4	10
10.10	4.6	10
10.55	4.7	10
11.56	5.2	10
11.65	4.3	10
13.74	4.9	10
14.38	4.1	10
16.74	4.9	10
18.10	4.2	10
18.33	4.4	10
21.16	4.3	10
25.13	4.9	10
27.37	4.4	10
33.21	4.1	10
33.28	4.2	10
33.46	4.9	10
33.51	4.3	10
33.80	4.5	10
39.84	4.6	10
43.67	4.9	10
44.01	5.0	10
44.35	4.4	10
44.41	4.2	10
44.45	4.9	10
47.75	4.7	10
47.76	5.0	10
47.82	4.5	10
49.76	4.5	10
59.30	4.5	10
65.46	4.9	10
80.28	4.6	10
99.16	5.1	10
101.54	4.5	10
103.60	6.9	10
103.60	6.8	16
103.67	6.1	10
103.75	4.8	10
103.77	4.9	10
103.82	4.5	10
103.84	4.8	10
103.85	4.7	10
103.86	5.1	10
103.88	4.8	10
103.90	4.9	10
103.95	4.3	10
103.96	4.9	10
103.99	4.6	10
104.02	4.3	10
104.06	4.5	10
104.14	4.4	10
104.17	5.0	10
104.22	5.1	10
104.28	4.5	10
104.32	5.1	10
104.36	4.4	10
104.37	5.2	10
104.40	4.2	10
104.43	4.8	10
104.80	4.2	10
104.93	4.9	10
104.97	4.5	10
105.05	4.4	10
105.06	4.2	10
105.17	5.7	10
105.27	5.9	10
105.40	5.2	10
105.82	5.0	10
105.90	5.1	10
106.23	4.3	10
106.25	4.8	10
106.47	5.8	10
106.51	5.1	10
106.67	4.6	10
106.70	4.4	10
106.73	4.3	10
107.14	5.3	10
107.42	4.6	10
107.67	4.4	10
107.72	4.3	10
107.94	5.0	10
108.04	4.7	10
108.33	4.2	10
108.61	4.3	10
109.01	4.3	10
109.22	4.1	10
109.41	4.7	10
109.45	5.1	10
109.54	5.1	10
109.84	4.7	10
109.85	4.5	10
110.01	5.9	10
110.19	5.0	10
110.24	4.5	10
110.43	4.1	10
110.72	5.1	10
111.30	4.5	10
111.70	4.6	10
112.31	5.1	10
112.40	4.7	10
113.45	4.1	10
113.62	4.2	10
113.77	4.0	10
113.83	4.5	10
114.96	4.8	10
116.20	4.8	10
116.40	4.9	10
116.84	4.7	10
117.98	4.8	10
120.19	5.0	10
123.40	4.6	10
123.86	5.0	10
124.62	4.4	10
124.72	4.8	10
124.82	5.0	10
126.85	5.1	10
127.18	5.1	10
130.30	4.3	10
130.63	4.6	10
130.80	4.5	10
130.84	4.5	10
133.33	4.4	10
133.76	5.4	10
133.80	4.9	10
141.50	4.6	10
145.58	4.8	10
149.07	4.6	10
150.45	5.0	10
150.81	4.6	10
153.97	4.8	10
160.37	5.0	10
161.30	5.2	10
163.13	4.6	10
164.21	4.6	10
165.75	4.6	10
165.77	4.5	10
165.79	4.5	10
182.00	5.8	11
182.42	5.0	10
183.18	5.0	10
183.92	5.2	10
194.90	4.6	10
198.73	5.5	10
199.30	4.8	10
199.36	5.2	10
199.44	6.0	10
200.07	5.6	10
201.59	5.0	10
211.51	4.4	10
213.74	4.3	10
252.26	4.3	10
257.76	4.7	10
260.47	4.5	10
267.32	4.7	10
278.34	4.9	10
278.38	4.9	10
278.52	4.3	10
280.59	5.0	10
281.01	4.3	10
291.78	5.2	10
293.04	4.8	10
299.52	5.4	10
300.09	5.1	10
300.49	4.4	10
300.70	4.7	10
300.75	4.5	10
303.65	4.9	10
304.86	6.0	10
305.02	4.8	10
305.21	4.8	10
337.98	4.6	10
504.54	4.8	10
528.98	4.9	12

Did you feel it?

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Reports on SeismoAtlas

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Event id gfz2026uncw. First recorded here 19 Oct 2026, 19:12:24 UTC. Solutions: GFZ (geofon:gfz2026uncw); USGS (usgs:us6000u3ge). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M5.5 earthquake – Vanuatu Islands”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/gfz2026uncw-m5-5-earthquake-vanuatu-islands, data from USGS, GFZ.

JSON: /api/v1/events/gfz2026uncw. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.