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Strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - Vanuatu Islands on Sunday, 6 September 2020 - information

Very strong mag. 6.2 Earthquake - 97 km NW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu, on Sunday, Sep 6, 2020, at 01:59 pm (Efate time)

A very strong magnitude 6.2 earthquake occurred in the Coral Sea near the coast of  Vanuatu around noon of Sunday, Sep 6, 2020 at 1.59 pm local time (Pacific/Efate GMT +11). The quake had a very shallow depth of 10 km (6 mi) and was felt by many near the epicenter. The shallow depth of the quake caused it to be felt more strongly near the epicenter than a deeper quake of similar magnitude would.

Very strong mag. 6.2 Earthquake - 97 km NW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu, on Sunday, Sep 6, 2020, at 01:59 pm (Efate time) Very strong mag. 6.2 Earthquake - 97 km NW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu, on Sunday, Sep 6, 2020, at 01:59 pm (Efate time)
Very strong magnitude 6.2 earthquake at 10 km depth
6 Sep 03:07 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 8 minutes.
Sep 6 03:10: Magnitude recalculated from 6.2 to 6.3.
Sep 6 06:38: Magnitude recalculated from 6.3 to 6.2.

Earthquake details

Date & timeSep 6, 2020 02:59:17 UTC
Local time at epicenterSunday, Sep 6, 2020, at 01:59 pm (Pacific/Efate GMT +11)
StatusConfirmed
Magnitude6.2
Depth10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude17.19°S / 167.61°E Coral Sea, Vanuatu
Seismic antipode17.19°N / 12.39°W Mauritania
Shaking intensityVery strong shaking near epicenter
Felt10 reports
Primary data sourceGFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
Nearest volcanoNorth Vate (85 km / 53 mi)
Estimated seismic energy released1.3 x 1014 joules (35 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 30089 tons of TNT or 1.9 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy
Interactive map
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Nearby places

The closest larger town where the quake might have been felt is Port Vila, the capital of  Vanuatu with 36,000 inhabitants, in 96 km (60 mi) distance southeast of the epicenter. People likely experienced moderate shaking there.
The following table shows some of the places that might have been affected (or not) by the shaking.
Distance Place Max. shaking intensity(*) Region Country
96 km (60 mi)
SE of epicenter
Port Vila
(pop: 35,900)
V: Moderate
Shefa
127 km (79 mi)
N of epicenter
Norsup
(pop: 3,000)
IV: Light
Malampa
192 km (119 mi)
N of epicenter
Santo
(pop: 13,400)
IV: Light
Santo/Malo
246 km (153 mi)
N of epicenter
Port-Olry
(pop: 1,950)
IV: Light
Santo/Malo
316 km (196 mi)
SE of epicenter
Isangel
(pop: 1,440)
III: Weak
Tafea
369 km (229 mi)
N of epicenter
Sola
(pop: 1,170)
III: Weak
Torba
401 km (249 mi)
S of epicenter
Fayaoué
(pop: 4,410)
III: Weak
Ouvea, Loyalty Islands
Notes:
(*) Shaking intensity according to the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) and estimated using seismic models.

User-reports for this quake (13)

We received 13 reports for this quake.
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Contribute:
Leave a comment if you find a particular report interesting or want to add to it.
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Send your own user report!
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Vanuatu Port Vila city / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 5-10 s : The first earthquake shake happens at the duration time of about 2-5 seconds. Rattling and vibrating grounds shooking the trees all around. Whereas the second one last only for just about 1-2 seconds with not strong movement.  
Teuoma area, port vila / Light shaking (MMI IV) / complex motion difficult to describe : I was doing my homework and i heard vibrations from the distance before it arrived. It was slow but really heavy, could have been more dangerous if the epicentre was near the surface  
Port Vila / Light shaking (MMI IV) / complex motion difficult to describe : Having lunch at Rossi's, sitting on their deck, it lasted around 60 seconds or so.We have not felt the 3 after, however.  
Elton / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / 20-30 s : Sitting on beach with feet in sand so felt deep vibration. Usually indoors so very different | One user found this interesting.  
Bellevue Port Vila / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging : Cracked tiles around pool house swaying for 40 seconds.. lightbulbs swinging | One user found this interesting.  
Port vila / not felt / single vertical bump / 2-5 s : A bit shaky few for few minutes then it stop again with slow motion movement | One user found this interesting.  
Port Havannah / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : Strong, slow, steady sided to side movement. No damage, but vases and a few small objects fell over.  
Melbourne / Severe shaking (MMI VIII) / complex rolling (tilting in multiple directions)
Port Vila, VANUATU / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 2-5 s
Rollins, MT 59931 / not felt : I did not experience any movement. 47 degrees N 114 plus degrees West  
Tradewind VTU subdivision / not felt : Didn't feel or hear anyone mention feeling any movement of earthquake or ground shaking.  
Port Vila / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 10-15 s
George Pombidou Port Vila / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 2-5 s

What is Intensity and the Mercalli Intensity Scale?


The amount of shaking that occurs on the surface due to an earthquake is called the intensity. It is commonly measured on the so-called Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) ranging from 1 (not felt) to 10 (extreme shaking), and given in Roman numerals as I,II,...IX, X, and often displayed with color codes ranging from light blue to dark red.
Earthquake intensity depends mainly on the magnitude and depth of the quake as well as the distance from the epicenter: The further away, the less shaking intensity occurs.
Read more about the MMI scale!

Compare Quake Data

Data for the same earthquake as reported by different agencies

The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
Mag Depth Time GMT
2020-09-6
Epicenter Agency
6.2 10 km
6.2 mi
(*)
02:59:17 97 km NW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
6.2 8.2 km
5.1 mi
02:59:15 101 km NW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu
5.6 km (3.5 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ
USGS (United States Geological Survey)
6.4 10.2 km
6.3 mi
02:59:17 Vanuatu Islands [Sea: Vanuatu]
3.6 km (2.2 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ
INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia)
6.2 38 km
24 mi
02:59:20 Vanuatu Islands
16 km (9.7 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ
BMKG (Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia)
6.1 33 km
20 mi
02:59:19 Vanuatu Islands
6.2 km (3.8 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ
GeoAu (Geoscience Australia )
Notes:
(*) A depth given as 10 km often means that the the depth of the quake could not determined with sufficient accuracy.

Seismograms

Seismic station: Monasavu, Fiji (MSVF/II network) | Distance from quake: 1109 km / 689 mi | Show on map | Station Info
Seismic station Monasavu, Fiji: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)
Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.02-5.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool
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18 aftershocks for this quake

For this strong earthquake, 18 aftershocks have been detected so far. The strongest was a magnitude 5.8 quake that hit 6 days after the mainshock in 17.7 km (11 mi) distance, in 98 km NW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu, on Saturday, Sep 12, 2020 on 07:34 pm (Efate local time GMT +11).
The most recent aftershock occurred 4 years ago 101 km northwest of Port-Vila, Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu, and had a magnitude of 4.7.

What are aftershocks?


Larger earthquakes (above magnitude 5 or so) such as this one are usually followed by smaller ones known as aftershocks that occur in the same area during the days, weeks, months or even years after the main shock.
[More info]

What about this quake?


Based on its magnitude, the fault that was active during the quake likely ruptured beneath a surface of approx. 158 km2 (=61 sqare miles) as a first-order estimate. The length of the rupture zone thus was probably around 22 km (14 mi).
[More info]


Recorded aftershocks, latest first (18 quakes)

Date and Time GMTMag
Depth
DistanceRegionDetails
Oct 3, 2020 12:16 am (Efate)
3 years ago - felt
4 weeks after main shock
4.7

44 km
13 km (8.3 mi)
NE of main shock
- 97 km NW of Port-Vila, VanuatuMore
Oct 1, 2020 07:03 am (Efate)
3 years ago
4 weeks after main shock
4.6

10 km
24 km (15 mi)
NE of main shock
100 Km NW of Port-Vila, VanuatuMore
Oct 1, 2020 06:35 am (Efate)
3 years ago - felt
4 weeks after main shock
5.3

10 km
22 km (14 mi)
N of main shock
107 Km NW of Port-Vila, VanuatuMore
Sep 29, 2020 01:15 am (GMT +11)
4 years ago
3 weeks after main shock
4.1

10 km
25 km (15 mi)
E of main shock
VanuatuMore
Sep 29, 2020 01:11 am (Efate)
4 years ago
3 weeks after main shock
4.7

10 km
9.6 km (5.9 mi)
N of main shock
102 Km NW of Port-Vila, VanuatuMore
Sep 12, 2020 08:07 pm (GMT +11)
4 years ago
6 days after main shock
4.6

14 km
11 km (7 mi)
NE of main shock
VanuatuMore
Sep 12, 2020 08:04 pm (GMT +11)
4 years ago
6 days after main shock
4.6

15 km
22 km (14 mi)
NE of main shock
VanuatuMore
Sep 12, 2020 07:34 pm (Efate)
4 years ago
6 days after main shock
5.8

10 km
18 km (11 mi)
NE of main shock
98 km NW of Port-Vila, VanuatuMore
Sep 7, 2020 03:41 pm (GMT +11)
4 years ago
1 day 2 hours after main shock
5.0

10 km
21 km (13 mi)
NE of main shock
91 Km NW of Port-Vila, VanuatuMore
Sep 7, 2020 03:32 pm (GMT +11)
4 years ago
1 day 2 hours after main shock
4.1

10 km
16 km (10.2 mi)
NE of main shock
VanuatuMore
Sep 7, 2020 02:30 pm (GMT +11)
4 years ago
1 day 1 hours after main shock
4.0

10 km
13 km (8.4 mi)
NE of main shock
VanuatuMore
Sep 7, 2020 12:39 pm (GMT +11)
4 years ago
23 hours after main shock
4.2

10 km
10.2 km (6.3 mi)
SE of main shock
VanuatuMore
Sep 6, 2020 03:39 pm (Efate)
4 years ago
1 hour and 40 minutes after main shock
5.4

10 km
21 km (13 mi)
NE of main shock
93 km NW of Port-Vila, VanuatuMore
Sep 6, 2020 03:33 pm (GMT +11)
4 years ago
1 hour and 35 minutes after main shock
4.3

10 km
27 km (17 mi)
E of main shock
VanuatuMore
Sep 6, 2020 03:20 pm (GMT +11)
4 years ago
1 hour and 22 minutes after main shock
5.1

10 km
19 km (12 mi)
NE of main shock
92 Km NW of Port-Vila, VanuatuMore
Sep 6, 2020 02:31 pm (Efate)
4 years ago
33 minutes after main shock
4.6

10 km
22 km (14 mi)
NE of main shock
90 Km NW of Port-Vila, VanuatuMore
Sep 6, 2020 02:10 pm (Efate)
4 years ago
11 minutes after main shock
4.9

10 km
27 km (17 mi)
E of main shock
84 Km NW of Port-Vila, VanuatuMore
Sep 6, 2020 02:07 pm (GMT +11)
4 years ago
8 minutes after main shock
4.4

10 km
25 km (15 mi)
E of main shock
VanuatuMore
Sep 6, 2020 01:59 pm (Efate)
4 years ago - felt
6.2

10 km
0 km - This quakeCoral Sea, Vanuatu, 96 km NW of Port Vila, Shefa
Main Shock (this quake)
More

Map of aftershocks

Earthquake statistics

Average number of earthquakes

Based on data from the past 14 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 30.2 quakes on average per year in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi):
  • Mag. 7 or higher: 0.09 quakes per year (or 1 quake every 10.9 years)
  • Mag. 6 or higher: 0.67 quakes per year (or 1 quake every 1.5 years)
  • Mag. 5 or higher: 10.2 quakes per year
  • Mag. 4 or higher: 30.3 quakes per year (or 2.5 quakes per month)
  • Mag. 3 or higher: 31.1 quakes per year (or 2.6 quakes per month)
  • Mag. 2 or higher: 31.1 quakes per year (or 2.6 quakes per month)
The area where this quake occurred has a very high level of seismic activity. It has had at least 5 quakes above magnitude 7 since 1970, which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently, probably on average approximately every 10 to 15 years.

Number of quakes per year

Previous quakes in the same area of this earthquake

Map of earlier quakes in the area of this quake

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