The 1999 Ambrym earthquake occurred on November 27 at 00:21:17 local time with a moment magnitude of 7.4 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong).

While the National Geophysical Data Center classified the total damage as moderate, a destructive local tsunami did result in some deaths, with at least five killed and up to 100 injured.

The primary tectonic feature of the 1,200 km (750 mi) island chain is the New Hebrides Subduction Zone, the convergent boundary between the Indo-Australian and Pacific plates.

[6] While much of the island arc experiences intermediate-depth earthquakes along a Wadati–Benioff zone that dips steeply at 70°, the area adjacent to the d'Entrecasteaux Ridge does not.

The Harvard Centroid Moment Tensor project lists the slip vector as 67°, indicating that the mechanism was mostly thrust, with a significant amount of left-lateral strike-slip motion.

The loss of life there was minimal and could be attributed to well-educated people with regard to tsunami hazard, that even at the late hour, the villagers were awake because of a wedding celebration, and because of quick access to a safe area.

While the crew were asleep on board, the initial withdrawal of the tsunami caused the vessel to settle onto the bottom of the bay and list severely.