Photo: USGS
A 7.3-magnitude earthquake was reported in Vanuatu on Monday (March 30), according to the United States Geological Survey.
The earthquake was reported 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) northeast of Luganville and centered at a depth of 115.8 kilometers (about 72 miles) at 8:44 a.m. UTC. The USGS said it received 25 reports of people having felt the earthquake at the time of publication on Monday.
There are currently no tsunami warnings, according to Tsunami.gov. A 5.0-magnitude aftershock was reported near Luganville after the initial 7.3-magnitude earthquake on Monday.
Luganville is reported to have had two earthquakes in the past seven days; six in the past 30 days; and 47 in the past 365 days measuring 1.5 magnitude or greater, according to earthquaketrack.com.
Vanatu has had three earthquakes in the past seven days; 14 in the past 30 days; and 136 in the past 365 days, according to earthquaketracker.com. Earthquakes measured between 2.5 and 5.4 magnitude can be felt by a large population, however, rarely results in much damage, according to Michigan Tech via the Sacramento Bee.
An estimated 500,000 detectable earthquakes are reported worldwide annually, however, around 100,000 are felt and only 100 typically result in serious damage. Officials strongly advise that anyone caught in an earthquake should drop, cover and hold on, according to the Sacramento Bee.