M 7.7 in New Caledonia on 19 May 2023 02:57 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 1374595
Earthquake Magnitude: 7.7M
Depth: 37.748 Km
Lat/Lon: -23.2286 , 170.6936
Event Date: 19 May 2023 02:57 UTC
19 May 2023 13:57 Local
Exposed Population: Few people affected in MMI -
Inserted at: 19 May 2023 03:16 UTC
INFORM Coping capacity:
1.1 (New Caledonia)
Maximum Wave Height observed: 0.61 m

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
  Earthquake
(Shakemap)		 Tsunami GDACS score
NEIC 0 0.4 0.4
us6000kd0n Scaled population (raster) 0 Max wave scenario 0.19m  
  C1 shakemap 0 Max wave realtime 0.45m  
  C2 shakemap 0      
  Country Vulnerability 0      
  INFORM_normalised 0      
Maximum expected impact using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
New Caledonia, Vanuatu, New Zealand - Earthquakes (ECHO 19 May 2023)Fri, 19 May 2023 11:55

  • Seismic activity is occurring in the South Pacific Ocean 400 km east-southeast of New Caledonia. The main earthquake of 7.7 M at a depth of 38 km occurred on 19 May at 2.57 UTC (13.57 local time).
  • A total of 14 aftershocks of magnitude between 4.8 M and 5.9 M have been recorded in the area.
  • Small tsunami waves have been registered along the coast of New Caledonia, Vanuatu and New Zealand. The highest recorded, 0,61 m, is in Lenakel Town (Tanna Island, Vanuatu).
  • According to initial media reports, people in Vanuatu Islands have been advised to evacuate from coastal areas to higher grounds.
Detailed event map. European Union, 2025. 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

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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 (89), (5), NEIC (6), OCHA (1), INGV (1), USGS (5), WMO (2), INFORM (4), NOAA (1),