M5.2 earthquake – Vanuatu Islands
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck in the Vanuatu Islands region at 21:50 local time (10:50 UTC) on 27 Oct 2026, at a depth of 10 km, according to USGS and GFZ.
Reported by 2 agencies · revised from M5.0
Data: USGS, GFZ · updated 2026-10-27 11:09 UTC · reviewed
- Magnitude
- 5.2moderate
body-wave magnitude (mb)
revised from 5.0 - Depth
- 10 km
- Status
- Reviewed
- Origin time
- 2026-10-27 10:50:35 UTC
- Local: 27 Oct 2026, 21:50:35 (Pacific/Efate)
- Epicentre
- 14.007° S, 165.648° E
Circles show this event and others within 50 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map
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 158 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.
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 951 t 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.
M5.2 releases about 32× the energy of M4.2, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 951 t of TNT vs 30 t of TNT.
Each square is the energy of one M4.2. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.
Aftershocks and nearby activity
28 later earthquakes within 50 km; the largest was M6.0 15 days ago. 127 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.
Mainshock M5.2
28 later earthquakes nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).
| Time after mainshock (hours) | Magnitude | Depth (km) |
|---|---|---|
| 14.81 | 5.5 | 10 |
| 15.39 | 4.8 | 10 |
| 15.44 | 5.2 | 10 |
| 15.52 | 6.0 | 10 |
| 16.15 | 5.6 | 10 |
| 17.67 | 5.0 | 10 |
| 29.82 | 4.3 | 10 |
| 68.35 | 4.3 | 10 |
| 73.84 | 4.7 | 10 |
| 76.55 | 4.5 | 10 |
| 83.41 | 4.7 | 10 |
| 94.42 | 4.9 | 10 |
| 94.47 | 4.9 | 10 |
| 96.68 | 5.0 | 10 |
| 97.09 | 4.3 | 10 |
| 107.87 | 5.2 | 10 |
| 109.12 | 4.8 | 10 |
| 115.60 | 5.4 | 10 |
| 116.17 | 5.1 | 10 |
| 116.57 | 4.4 | 10 |
| 116.79 | 4.7 | 10 |
| 119.73 | 4.9 | 10 |
| 120.94 | 6.0 | 10 |
| 121.10 | 4.8 | 10 |
| 121.30 | 4.8 | 10 |
| 154.06 | 4.6 | 10 |
| 320.62 | 4.8 | 10 |
| 345.06 | 4.9 | 12 |
- 6.0Vanuatu Islands10-28 02:21
- 6.0Vanuatu Islands11-01 11:47
- 5.6Vanuatu Islands10-28 02:59
- 5.5Vanuatu Islands10-28 01:39
- 5.4Vanuatu Islands11-01 06:26
- 5.2Vanuatu Islands10-28 02:17
- 5.2Vanuatu Islands10-31 22:42
- 5.1Vanuatu Islands11-01 07:00
- 5.0Sola, Vanuatu10-28 04:31
- 5.0Vanuatu Islands10-31 11:31
- 4.9Vanuatu Islands10-31 09:15
- 4.9Port-Olry, Vanuatu10-31 09:18
- 4.9Vanuatu Islands11-10 19:54
- 4.9Vanuatu Islands11-01 10:34
- 4.8Port-Olry, Vanuatu10-28 02:13
- 4.8Vanuatu Islands10-31 23:57
- 4.8Vanuatu Islands11-01 11:56
- 4.8Port-Olry, Vanuatu11-01 12:08
- 4.8Vanuatu Islands11-09 19:27
- 4.7Port-Olry, Vanuatu10-30 12:40
- 4.7Port-Olry, Vanuatu10-30 22:14
- 4.7Port-Olry, Vanuatu11-01 07:37
- 4.6Vanuatu Islands11-02 20:54
- 4.5Port-Olry, Vanuatu10-30 15:23
- 4.4Port-Olry, Vanuatu11-01 07:24
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.
Event id gfz2026vbcw. First recorded here 27 Oct 2026, 11:02:46 UTC. Solutions: GFZ (geofon:gfz2026vbcw); USGS (usgs:us7000ttfk). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M5.2 earthquake – Vanuatu Islands”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/gfz2026vbcw-m5-2-earthquake-vanuatu-islands, data from USGS, GFZ.
JSON: /api/v1/events/gfz2026vbcw. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.