Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea120y ago
M7.0 earthquake 73 km ENE of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea
Sunday, December 15, 1907, 17:34:56 UTC · 2.398°S, 141.899°E
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck 73 km ENE of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea on Sunday, December 15, 1907, 17:34:56 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.3 on May 7, 1907.
- Magnitude
- 7.0
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
401 kilotons of TNT
That is about 27 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 841 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
2 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Caroline and Woodlark plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
15 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 2 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 5 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1900M6.9
Nw. Irian Jaya
7 Oct 1900 · 276 km away
5 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1907M7.4
Bismarck Sea
15 Dec 1907 · 103 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.