An earthquake of magnitude 5.2 occurred only 16 minutes ago 117 km southeast of Port Vila, Vanuatu, the United States Geological Survey reported.The quake hit at an intermediate depth of 142.62 km beneath the epicenter near Port Vila, Shefa Province, Vanuatu, in the morning on Friday, January 2nd, 2026, at 8:35 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 European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which listed it as a magnitude 5.2 earthquake as well. Other agencies reporting the same quake include Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency at magnitude 5.3, the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 5.1, and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 5.1.Generally quakes of this magnitude are recorded by more than one agency and the results can vary, with subsequent reports that come in after the first one often showing more accuracy.Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Isangel (pop. 1,400) located 108 km from the epicenter, Pango (pop. 2,500) 114 km away, and Port Vila (pop. 35,900) 117 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: Jan 1, 2026 09:35 pm (Universal Time) local time (1 Jan 2026 21:35 GMT)Magnitude: 5.2Depth: 142.62 kmEpicenter latitude / longitude: 18.68°S / 168.8°E (Vanuatu)Primary data source: USGS