Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea59y ago
M5.7 earthquake 173 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Saturday, March 9, 1968, 03:19:23 UTC · 5.603°S, 154.093°E
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck 173 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Saturday, March 9, 1968, 03:19:23 UTC, at a depth of 75.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.3 on February 12, 1968.
- Magnitude
- 5.7
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 75 km
- Intermediate
- 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
6 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/3 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 12 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
51 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: intermediate
75 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 243 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 · 92 km N of this epicenter
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 188 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.885 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 30, 1939 · 218 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.874 km SSW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaFebruary 2, 1920 · 240 km W of this epicenter
- 7.7152 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaSeptember 29, 1946 · 94 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.467 km E of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaApril 23, 1953 · 187 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.497 km SW of Rabaul, Papua New GuineaMay 30, 1913 · 300 km W of this epicenter
- 7.3102 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaOctober 10, 1955 · 150 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 24 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 517 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1937
Keravia, Rabaul, Kokopo
28 May 1937 · 256 km away · intensity VIII
507 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1939M7.7
Bougainville Island
30 Jan 1939 · 218 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1941M7.4
Bismarck Sea
13 Jan 1941 · 275 km away
4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1878
Bismarck Sea
4 Feb 1878 · 254 km away
1 deathtsunami
- 1959M7.3
Solomon Islands
17 Aug 1959 · 298 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1967M6.4
Bismarck Sea
13 Aug 1967 · 221 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.