M 5.7 in Vanuatu on 21 Mar 2026 03:21 UTC

Event summary

This earthquake can have a low humanitarian impact based on the magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability.

GDACS ID EQ 1530245
Earthquake Magnitude: 5.7M
Depth: 37.1 Km
Lat/Lon: -16.0064 , 166.9182
Event Date: 21 Mar 2026 03:21 UTC
21 Mar 2026 14:21 Local
Exposed Population: 80 thousand in MMI IV
Inserted at: 21 Mar 2026 04:50 UTC
INFORM Coping capacity:
6.1 (Vanuatu)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
  Earthquake
(Shakemap)		 GDACS score
NEIC 0 0
us6000si17 Scaled population (raster) 0  
  C1 shakemap 0  
  C2 shakemap 0  
  Country Vulnerability 0  
  INFORM_normalised 0  
Maximum expected impact using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Detailed event map. European Union, 2026. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

7.5-magnitude quake hits Tonga 3/24/2026 8:22:00 AM.

SUVA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A 7.5-magnitude earthquake jolted 166 km West of Neiafu, Tonga at 17:37 local time on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The epicenter, with a
...(more)
7.5-magnitude quake hits Tonga 3/24/2026 8:21:00 AM.

SUVA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A 7.5-magnitude earthquake jolted 166 km West of Neiafu, Tonga at 17:37 local time on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The epicenter, with a
...(more)
Small earthquake of magnitude 3.0 reported 2 miles southeast of San Ra.. 3/24/2026 8:12:00 AM.

New Zealand is currently monitoring a potential tsunami threat after huge earthquake struck in the South Pacific Ocean. A strong preliminary magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck near Tonga on Tuesday (March 24), prompting coastal evacuations. Th
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7.5-magnitude quake hits Tonga 3/24/2026 7:03:00 AM.

SUVA, March 24 (Xinhua) -- A 7.5-magnitude earthquake jolted 166 km West of Neiafu, Tonga at 17:37 local time on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The epicenter, with a
...(more)

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Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (48), NEIC (4), OCHA (1), DesInventar (1), WMO (1), USGS (5), (2), INFORM (2),