Earthquake details

Friday, October 20, 1978 Earthquake

The earthquake hit Vanuatu on Friday, October 20, 1978 at 11:16 UTC with a magnitude of 5.0. The closest known location in the current dataset is Port Vila (Vanuatu - VU), about 271.2 km away. The epicenter is located at longitude 167.593 and latitude -15.400.

Magnitude 5.0
Alert Strong
Depth 116.0 km
Coordinates -15.400, 167.593
UTC time 1978-10-20 11:16:19.500
Location Port Vila
Country Vanuatu (VU)
Severity Strong

Earthquake map 1978-10-20

Nearby earthquakes

The latest 8 earthquakes within 100 km of this epicenter.
M 5.0
Port Vila
Vanuatu · 2026-05-31 02:48 UTC
218.8 km
M 4.8
Port Vila
Vanuatu · 2026-05-19 14:18 UTC
281.2 km
M 5.8
Port Vila
Vanuatu · 2026-05-19 02:29 UTC
313.0 km
M 5.4
Port Vila
Vanuatu · 2026-05-16 15:58 UTC
322.5 km
M 4.9
Port Vila
Vanuatu · 2026-05-16 15:35 UTC
307.4 km
M 5.2
Port Vila
Vanuatu · 2026-05-16 14:07 UTC
311.9 km
M 5.3
Port Vila
Vanuatu · 2026-05-16 12:59 UTC
321.4 km
M 4.5
Port Vila
Vanuatu · 2026-04-02 03:39 UTC
238.8 km

Stay informed

Earthquake alerts

Create targeted notifications for important seismic activity near the places you follow.

Choose the places you want to monitor.
Set a minimum magnitude for notifications.