Significant magnitude 5.5 quake hits 84 km southwest of Sola, Vanuatu in the morning

An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 occurred only 10 minutes ago 84 km southwest of Sola, Vanuatu, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported.
The quake hit at a moderately shallow depth of 35. km beneath the epicenter near Sola, Torba Province, Vanuatu, in the morning on Saturday, July 25th, 2026, at 8:19 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 France's Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS), which listed it as a magnitude 5.2 earthquake. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 5.5, and the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 5.5.
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 Sola (pop. 1,200) located 84 km from the epicenter, Port-Olry (pop. 1,300) 97 km away, and Hog Harbour (pop. 1000) 108 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: Jul 24, 2026 09:19 pm (Universal Time) local time (24 Jul 2026 21:19 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.5
Depth: 35.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 14.2°S / 166.85°E (Vanuatu)
Primary data source: EMSC
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