Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea55y ago
M6.0 earthquake 181 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
Tuesday, August 10, 1971, 14:37:57 UTC · 5.410°S, 153.517°E
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 181 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea on Tuesday, August 10, 1971, 14:37:57 UTC, at a depth of 39.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on August 9, 1971.
- Magnitude
- 6.0
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 39 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
16 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 33 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
8 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
39 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 lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.0 on August 13, 1971. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 328 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.21919 Papua New Guinea EarthquakeMay 6, 1919 · 77 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.11971 Bougainville EarthquakeJuly 26, 1971 · 71 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.01971 New Britain EarthquakeJuly 14, 1971 · 39 km E of this epicenter
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 123 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.885 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 30, 1939 · 278 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.874 km SSW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaFebruary 2, 1920 · 173 km W of this epicenter
- 7.7152 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaSeptember 29, 1946 · 30 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.467 km E of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaApril 23, 1953 · 129 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 26 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 520 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1937
Keravia, Rabaul, Kokopo
28 May 1937 · 193 km away · intensity VIII
507 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1939M7.7
Bougainville Island
30 Jan 1939 · 278 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1941M7.4
Bismarck Sea
13 Jan 1941 · 211 km away
4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1971M7.9
New Ireland: Bougainville
14 Jul 1971 · 44 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1878
Bismarck Sea
4 Feb 1878 · 191 km away
1 deathtsunami
- 1967M6.4
Bismarck Sea
13 Aug 1967 · 159 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.