QuakeScout
Magnitude5.7

Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea58y ago

M5.7 earthquake 22 km NW of Wewak, Papua New Guinea

Thursday, October 24, 1968, 02:02:25 UTC · 3.397°S, 143.492°E

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck 22 km NW of Wewak, Papua New Guinea on Thursday, October 24, 1968, 02:02:25 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on October 23, 1968.

Magnitude
5.7
Moderate · mw
Depth
15 km
Shallow
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
VI
Strong (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert
None
Not issued
Tsunami
No flag
USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

5 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/3 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 9 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

18 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North Bismarck 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 75 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 86 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.8New Guinea, Papua New GuineaSeptember 20, 1935 · 240 km W of this epicenter
  2. 7.650 km N of Wewak, Papua New GuineaJuly 3, 1918 · 35 km N of this epicenter
  3. 7.593 km SW of Aitape, Papua New GuineaJuly 29, 1917 · 199 km W of this epicenter
  4. 7.349 km NNE of Angoram, Papua New GuineaMay 7, 1907 · 88 km E of this epicenter
  5. 7.1132 km NNE of Wewak, Papua New GuineaAugust 26, 1906 · 127 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 7.143 km SW of Aitape, Papua New GuineaAugust 7, 1931 · 162 km W of this epicenter
  7. 7.165 km ENE of Wewak, Papua New GuineaApril 27, 1909 · 76 km E of this epicenter
  8. 7.061 km W of Angoram, Papua New GuineaJune 9, 1925 · 81 km S of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 27 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1930M6.5

    Bismarck Sea

    23 Dec 1930 · 250 km away

    27 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  2. 1968M7.5

    N Coast, Wewak, Dagua

    23 Oct 1968 · 21 km away

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)

  3. 1907M7.4

    Bismarck Sea

    15 Dec 1907 · 115 km away

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  4. 1951M6.1

    Bismarck Sea

    22 Feb 1951 · 140 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  5. 1935M7.8

    N-Central

    20 Sep 1935 · 235 km away

    tsunami

  6. 1916M7.5

    N Coast

    3 Aug 1916 · 130 km away

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

Nearby trackers

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