M 6.6 in Vanuatu from 15 Jan 2019 18:06 UTC to 18:06

Event summary

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

GDACS ID EQ 1168142
Earthquake Magnitude: 6.6M
Depth: 46.85 Km
Lat/Lon: -13.3996 , 166.7132
Event Date: 15 Jan 2019 18:06 UTC
16 Jan 2019 05:06 Local
Exposed Population: Less then 100 people in MMI VI
About 3000 people within 100km
Inserted at: 15 Jan 2019 18:26 UTC
INFORM Coping capacity:
6.1 (Vanuatu)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
  Earthquake
(Shakemap)		 Tsunami GDACS score
NEIC 0 0 0
us2000j468 Scaled population (vector) 0 Max wave alert 0m  
  C1 shakemap -0.59 Max wave realtime 0.05m  
  C2 shakemap 0.53      
  Country Vulnerability 0      
  INFORM_normalised 1.12      
Maximum expected impact using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Vanuatu - Earthquake (ECHO 16 Jan 2019)Wed, 16 Jan 2019 11:05

  • An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 M at a depth of 49 km occurred in the western Pacific Ocean close to the Torres Islands (Torba Province, Vanuatu), on 15 January at 18:06 UTC. The epicentre was located approx. 105 Km west-northwest of Sola village (Torba Province, Vanuatu).
  • USGS PAGER estimates that up to 1 000 people were exposed to moderate shaking.  
  • No casualties or damage have been reported.
    Detailed event map. European Union, 2024. 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

    Articles: 15 | About casualties: 0 | Last hour: 0

    Powerful 6.6 magnitude earthquake strikes off VanuatuWed, 16 Jan 2019 00:45:00 +0100.

    A 6.6 magnitude earthquake has struck off Vanuatu. The earthquake hit north of the island of Toga at about 7am local time Wednesday morning, according to Geosciences Australia. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported the quake
    ...(more)
    6.6 magnitude quake rattles VanuatuTue, 15 Jan 2019 22:35:00 +0100.

    An earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter Scale struck the Islands. The quake struck 105 km west-northwest of Sola at around 6:06 pm (UTC) on Tuesday. The temblor was situated at a depth of 46.9 km, according to the United States Geologic
    ...(more)
    6.6 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Pacific Ocean Off Vanuatu, no Casualt ... Tue, 15 Jan 2019 20:53:00 +0100.

    Port Vila: A 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck the Pacific Ocean off Vanuatu, said United States Geological Survey (USGS). There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The USGS put the preliminary magnitude at 6.6, down from an in
    ...(more)
    Earthquake of 6.6 magnitude strikes off Vanuatu- USGSTue, 15 Jan 2019 20:51:00 +0100.

    WELLINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - An earthquake of 6.6 magnitude struck off the coast of Vanuatu in the Pacific ocean on Wednesday, at a depth of 46.9 km, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or
    ...(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 (91), (5), NEIC (4), OCHA (1), INGV (1), DesInventar (2), WMO (2), USGS (5), INFORM (4), NOAA (1),