List of earthquakes in Vanuatu
Earthquakes in Vanuatu are frequent and are sometimes accompanied by tsunami, though these events are not often destructive. The archipelago, which was formerly known as New Hebrides, lies atop a complex and active plate boundary in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
Tectonic setting
The primary tectonic feature of the 1,200 km (750 mi) island chain is the New Hebrides Subduction Zone, the convergent northeast boundary of the Indo-Australian Plate. Volcanic activity is also present along this north-northwest trending and northeast-dipping oceanic trench. Along the Wadati–Benioff zone, earthquake activity has been observed as shallow, intermediate, and deep-focus events at depths of up to 700 km (430 mi).[1]
Earthquakes
| Date | Region | M | MMI | Fatalities | Injuries | Comments | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1909-07-08 | Moderate damage / tsunami | NGDC | ||||||
| 1910-11-10 | Moderate damage / tsunami | NGDC | ||||||
| 1965-08-11 | 7.6 | Mw | Moderate damage / tsunami | NGDC | ||||
| 1971-10-28 | 7.1 | Ms | VII | 1 | Some | Severe damage | NGDC | |
| 1973-12-29 | 7.5 | Ms | VII | Moderate damage | NGDC | |||
| 1973-12-29 | 7.2 | Ms | VIII | Moderate damage | NGDC | |||
| 1990-07-27 | Espiritu Santo | 6.4 | Mb | V | 2 | Moderate damage | NGDC | |
| 1997-04-21 | Santa Cruz Islands | 7.7 | Mw | Some damage / tsunami | [2] | |||
| 1999-11-27 | Ambrym | 7.5 | Mw | 10 | 40 | Landslides / damage / five killed by tsunami | [3] | |
| 2002-01-03 | 7.2 | Mw | Several | Rockslides / damage | [4] | |||
| 2002-11-28 | 5.9 | Mw | 3 | Landslides / damage | [5] | |||
| 2009-05-29 | 5.7 | Mw | 10 | Landslides / damage | [6] | |||
| 2009-06-03 | 6.3 | Mw | 4 | Landslides | [7] | |||
See also
References
- ↑ Yeats, R. (2012), Active Faults of the World, Cambridge University Press, p. 478, ISBN 978-0521190855
- ↑ USGS. "M7.7 - Santa Cruz Islands". United States Geological Survey.
- ↑ USGS. "M7.5 - Vanuatu". United States Geological Survey.
- ↑ USGS. "M7.2 - Vanuatu". United States Geological Survey.
- ↑ USGS. "M5.9 - Vanuatu". United States Geological Survey.
- ↑ USGS. "M5.7 - Vanuatu". United States Geological Survey.
- ↑ USGS. "M6.3 - Vanuatu". United States Geological Survey.
- Sources
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