Overall Red alert Tropical Cyclone for KEVIN-23
in Vanuatu

Event summary

Tropical Cyclone KEVIN-23 can have a high humanitarian impact based on the maximum sustained wind speed, exposed population and vulnerability.

GDACS ID TC 1000966
Name KEVIN-23
Glide number: TC-2023-000030-VUT
From - To 01 Mar - 05 Mar
Exposed countries Vanuatu
Exposed population 120 thousand in Category 1 or higher
Maximum wind speed 250 km/h Category 4
Maximum storm surge 0.6 m (03 Mar 14:00 UTC)
Vulnerability Medium (Vanuatu)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
Wind Storm surge Rainfall GDACS score
GDACS JTWC 111 km/h 0.6 m n.a. 0.5
Single TC: maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge, rainfall)
HWRF 248 km/h n.a. 820 mm 0.5
GFS 173 km/h n.a. 403 mm 0.5
ECMWF 108 km/h n.a. 551 mm 0.5
Maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge and rainfall) using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
KEVIN-23 - UNITAR-UNOSAT ActivationThu, 02 Mar 2023 08:56

UNITAR-UNOSAT Potentially Damaged Buildings has been activated
Vanuatu - Tropical cyclones update and earthquakes (ECHO 03 Mar 2023)Fri, 03 Mar 2023 11:12

  • Tropical Cyclone JUDY continued moving southeastward over the South Pacific Ocean, well off southern Vanuatu, and on 3-4 March it is forecast to weaken into a Tropical Storm and after that it will dissipate. The passage of JUDY impacted Vanuatu (in particular the area of the Capital City Port Vila), leading to approximately 500 evacuated people.
  • The second Tropical Cyclone named KEVIN continued moving south-east over the northern Coral Sea toward Vanuatu, strengthening. On 3 March at 6.00 UTC its centre was located over the sea, approximately 55 km west of Port Vila (Shefa Province, central Vanuatu), with maximum sustained winds of 165 km/h. On 3-4 March, KEVIN is forecast to further strengthen and pass over Shefa and Tafea Provinces (central and southern Vanuatu), with maximum sustained winds up to 185 km/h (Tropical Cyclone).
  • As of 2 March, after the second Tropical Cyclone, national authorities declared the state of emergency.
  • Over the next 48 hours, due to the combined effects of both cyclones, heavy rainfall, strong wind and storm surge are forecast over Sanma, Penama, Malampa, Shefa and Tafea Provinces. A red alert is in effect for these Provinces.
  • Moreover, an earthquake of 6.6 M at a depth of 10 km occurred in the Country on 2 March at 18:04 UTC (3 Mar at 5:04 local time). The epicentre was located over the Coral Sea approximately 20 km west of the eastern coast of Espiritu Santo Island (Sanma Province, northern Vanuatu). The earthquake was followed by four aftershocks between 4.9 M and 5.4 M occurred in the area of Espiritu Santo Island.
  • As of 3 March, there are no reports of casualties and damage.
KEVIN-23 - EC/ECHO daily mapFri, 03 Mar 2023 19:16

A new EC/ECHO daily map is now available
Vanuatu - Tropical cyclones JUDY and KEVIN, update (ECHO 14 Mar 2023)Tue, 14 Mar 2023 11:14

  • Following the passage of tropical cyclones JUDY and KEVIN on 28 February - 3 March over central-southern Vanuatu, 251,346 people (about 80% of the total population) have been affected.
  • UN OCHA reports 5,156 still evacuated people in 106 evacuation centres located in Shefa and Tafea Province and 28 damaged and inaccessible schools. National authorities, NGOs and humanitarian partners are providing help for those most affected.
  • Following Vanuatu’s request for assistance from the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, (UCPM) one country offered various capacities.
  • The Copernicus Emergency Management Service was activated in rapid mapping mode () on 4 March and 16 maps have been produced so far.
  • On 14-15 March, light to moderate rain with localized thunderstorms is expected across most parts of Vanuatu, particularly over Shefa Province.
Detailed event map. European Union, 2024. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

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Vanuatu under state of emergency after being hit by two cyclones in 24 ... 2023-03-06T12:55+0100.

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Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (40), (2), DesInventar (1), WMO (1), INFORM (2),