The vibrational spectrum of Mg2.5VMoO8 obtained by quantum mechanical simulation is compared with theexperimentally observed Raman spectrum. This simulation suggests that the observed band at 1016 cm-1 is attributedto the Mo=O-Mg stretching from two-coordinate oxygen atoms that are adjacent to Mg2+ cation vacancies. ExtendedX-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy supports the structural model used to simulate the vibrational modesin Mg2.5VMoO8 that match the observed Raman data.