M 6.1 in Vanuatu on 16 Aug 2026 03:20 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 1558766
Earthquake Magnitude: 6.1M
Depth: 188.1 Km
Lat/Lon: -14.5474 , 167.1934
Event Date: 16 Aug 2026 03:20 UTC
16 Aug 2026 14:20 Local
Exposed Population: 5 thousand in MMI IV
Inserted at: 16 Aug 2026 03:39 UTC
INFORM Coping capacity:
1.1 (Vanuatu)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
  Earthquake
(Shakemap)		 GDACS score
NEIC 0 0
us6000tl4w 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

Magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes off Vanuatu 8/16/2026 4:55:00 AM.

The tremor''s epicentre was about 56km northeast of the small coastal village of Port Olry, at a depth of 188km, with no early reports of damage. Vanuatu has experienced frequent earthquakes due to its location along the tectonic Ring of F
...(more)
Sydney, Aug 16, 2026 (AFP) Magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes off Vanuat.. 8/16/2026 4:33:00 AM.

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of South Pacific nation Vanuatu on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said. The tremor''s epicentre was about 56 kilometres (35 miles) northeast of the small coastal village of Port Olry, at a d
...(more)
Magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes off Vanuatu: USGS 8/16/2026 4:21:00 AM.

SYDNEY, Aug 16, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of South Pacific nation Vanuatu on Sunday, the US Geological Survey said. The tremor''s epicentre was about 56 kilometres (35 miles) northeast of the village o
...(more)
6.1 earthquake strikes off the coast of Vanuatu 8/16/2026 4:17:00 AM.

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Vanuatu, the US Geological Survey says. The tremor''s epicentre was about 56 kilometres northeast of the village of Port Olry, at a depth of 188 kilometres, according to the USGS.

View more news

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),