QuakeScout
Magnitude7.1

Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea119y ago

M7.1 earthquake 65 km ENE of Wewak, Papua New Guinea

Tuesday, April 27, 1909, 12:42:53 UTC · 3.315°S, 144.171°E

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck 65 km ENE of Wewak, Papua New Guinea on Tuesday, April 27, 1909, 12:42:53 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
7.1
Major · 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

587 kilotons of TNT

That is about 39 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,230 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

21 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North Bismarck and South Bismarck 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 200 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 3 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.349 km NNE of Angoram, Papua New GuineaMay 7, 1907 · 38 km S of this epicenter
  2. 7.1132 km NNE of Wewak, Papua New GuineaAugust 26, 1906 · 92 km N of this epicenter
  3. 7.073 km ENE of Vanimo, Papua New GuineaDecember 15, 1907 · 272 km W of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1907M7.4

    Bismarck Sea

    15 Dec 1907 · 187 km away

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

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