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SeismoAtlas

M5.1 earthquake – Vanuatu Islands

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck in the Vanuatu Islands region at 22:14 local time (11:14 UTC) on 24 Oct 2026, at a depth of 10 km, according to USGS and GFZ.

Reported by 2 agencies · revised from M4.9

Data: USGS, GFZ · updated 2026-11-07 08:09 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude
5.1moderate
body-wave magnitude (mb)
revised from 4.9
Depth
10 km
Status
Reviewed
Origin time
2026-10-24 11:14:00 UTC
Local: 24 Oct 2026, 22:14:00 (Pacific/Efate)
Epicentre
13.845° S, 165.560° E

Circles show this event and others within 45 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
PlaceDistanceEst. 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 142 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.

AgencyMagnitudeDepthEpicentreTime offsetStatus
USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey5.1 mbwas 4.910 km13.84° S, 165.56° E–Reviewed · 1 revision
GFZGFZ via GEOFON, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences5.0 mb10 km13.81° S, 165.70° E+0.6 sAutomatic · 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 674 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.

M5.1 releases about 32× the energy of M4.1, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 674 t of TNT vs 21 t of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M4.1. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

61 later earthquakes within 45 km; the largest was M6.0 15 days ago. 110 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M5.1

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

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)MagnitudeDepth (km)
0.094.710
1.144.110
1.324.210
1.474.010
1.534.510
2.654.810
3.894.810
4.094.910
4.534.710
7.895.010
11.094.610
11.555.010
12.314.410
12.424.810
12.525.010
17.994.310
18.324.610
18.504.510
21.455.410
21.504.910
29.204.610
36.774.610
38.145.010
38.504.610
41.664.810
48.075.010
48.995.210
50.834.610
53.444.610
53.464.510
53.484.510
69.695.811
70.125.010
70.885.010
71.615.210
86.425.510
87.004.810
87.055.210
87.136.010
87.765.610
89.285.010
101.434.310
139.954.310
148.164.510
155.024.710
166.034.910
166.084.910
166.214.310
168.295.010
168.704.310
179.485.210
180.734.810
187.215.410
187.785.110
188.184.410
188.404.710
191.344.910
192.714.810
192.914.810
225.674.610
416.674.912
  1. 6.0Vanuatu Islands10-28 02:21
  2. 5.8Vanuatu Islands10-27 08:55
  3. 5.6Vanuatu Islands10-28 02:59
  4. 5.5Vanuatu Islands10-28 01:39
  5. 5.4Vanuatu Islands10-25 08:40
  6. 5.4Vanuatu Islands11-01 06:26
  7. 5.2Vanuatu Islands10-26 12:13
  8. 5.2Vanuatu Islands10-27 10:50
  9. 5.2Vanuatu Islands10-28 02:17
  10. 5.2Vanuatu Islands10-31 22:42
  11. 5.1Vanuatu Islands11-01 07:00
  12. 5.0Port-Olry, Vanuatu10-24 19:07
  13. 5.0Port-Olry, Vanuatu10-24 22:47
  14. 5.0Vanuatu Islands10-24 23:44
  15. 5.0Port-Olry, Vanuatu10-26 01:22
  16. 5.0Vanuatu Islands10-26 11:17
  17. 5.0Port-Olry, Vanuatu10-27 09:20
  18. 5.0Port-Olry, Vanuatu10-27 10:06
  19. 5.0Sola, Vanuatu10-28 04:31
  20. 5.0Vanuatu Islands10-31 11:31
  21. 4.9Vanuatu Islands10-24 15:19
  22. 4.9Sola, Vanuatu10-25 08:43
  23. 4.9Vanuatu Islands10-31 09:15
  24. 4.9Port-Olry, Vanuatu10-31 09:18
  25. 4.9Vanuatu Islands11-10 19:54

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 us6000u4m5. First recorded here 24 Oct 2026, 11:30:46 UTC. Solutions: USGS (usgs:us6000u4m5); GFZ (geofon:gfz2026uvrd). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M5.1 earthquake – Vanuatu Islands”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/us6000u4m5-m5-1-earthquake-vanuatu-islands, data from USGS, GFZ.

JSON: /api/v1/events/us6000u4m5. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.

M5.1 earthquake – Vanuatu Islands · SeismoAtlas