Magnitude 7.2 earthquake strikes off Vanuatu, tsunami threat listed

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck 200 kilometres west of Sola, Vanuatu, at 02:31 UTC on Saturday at a depth of 10 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said, seconds after a magnitude 6.9 quake in the same offshore area, and the US Tsunami Warning Centers listed a tsunami threat for the larger event.

Why it matters: Both quakes were shallow and offshore in northern Vanuatu, one of the most seismically active parts of the Pacific, and a listed tsunami threat puts coastal communities around the Coral Sea on watch while damage and casualty reports are still to come.

Data as of October 23, 2026, 22:54 ET: US Geological Survey significant-earthquake feed and event records read directly, and the US Tsunami Warning Centers home page listing a tsunami threat for the magnitude 7.2 event, read at the same time. The magnitude 7.2 solution is automatic and may be revised; the magnitude 6.9 solution is reviewed, with a green PAGER alert indicating a low likelihood of casualties and damage from that event. No casualty or damage reports had appeared in the sources read. Developing item.

A magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck offshore in northern Vanuatu at 02:31 UTC on Saturday (13:31 local time), centred 200 kilometres west of Sola on Vanua Lava island at a depth of 10 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said. It came about 25 seconds after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake at almost the same place, 197 kilometres west-northwest of Port-Olry, also at 10 kilometres deep, in what seismologists call a doublet.

The US Tsunami Warning Centers listed a tsunami threat for the magnitude 7.2 event. The Geological Survey’s solution for the larger quake is automatic and may be revised as more data arrive, and its reviewed assessment of the magnitude 6.9 quake carried a green alert, indicating a low likelihood of casualties and damage. No reports of casualties or damage had emerged in the first minutes after the quakes.

Magnitude 7.2 earthquake strikes off Vanuatu, tsunami threat listed

Sources