Significant magnitude 5.3 quake hits 100 km east of Port Vila, Vanuatu early morning

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake near Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu, was reported only 11 minutes ago by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a moderately shallow depth of 35. km beneath the epicenter early morning on Sunday, May 17th, 2026, at 2:58 am local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), which listed it as a magnitude 5.3 earthquake as well.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Port Vila (pop. 35,900) located 100 km from the epicenter, and Pango (pop. 2,500) 103 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

Earthquake data:
Date & time: May 16, 2026 03:58 pm (Universal Time) local time (16 May 2026 15:58 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.3
Depth: 35.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 17.81°S / 169.26°E (Vanuatu)
Primary data source: EMSC
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