Sism of magnitude 6 reaches northwest of Vanuatu without victims or damage

Uit has now reached the northwest of Vanuatu, an island country of the South Pacific Ocean, according to the United States Geological Service (USGS), without any tsunami alerts or recorded victims or material damage have been issued.

According to the USGS, the earthquake occurred at 22:47 locals (11:47 from Lisbon), at a depth of 10 kilometers at the bottom of the sea, with an epicenter about 165 kilometres northwest of the town of Port-Olry, located on the island of Espírito Santo, the largest of the Vanuatu archipelago.

The U.S. institution’s impact assessment system attributed the green level to the earthquake, the lowest of its alert scale, which indicates a reduced probability of serious consequences. So far, no information has been released on possible victims or material damage caused by the seismic shock.

The data provided by the USGS do not indicate the existence of any tsunami alert associated with the earthquake, and also the Vanuatu Department of Weather and Geological Risks issued warnings.

Today's earthquake occurs one week after two earthquakes, of magnitudes 6.9 and 6.3, have reached the waters north of Vanuatu, leading the authorities to issue a tsunami alert due to the possibility of formation of dangerous waves in coastal areas located less than 300 kilometres from the epicenter.

Vanuatu, an archipelago consisting of more than 80 islands, is located in the so-called Pacific Fire Ring, an extensive area of intense seismic and volcanic activity associated with the contact between several tectonic plates.

In December 2024, an earthquake of magnitude 7.4 caused more than a dozen dead and about 200 injured in Vanuatu, causing serious damage in Port Vila, the capital of the country.