Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea64y ago
M7.5 earthquake 49 km WSW of Wau, Papua New Guinea
Tuesday, February 26, 1963, 20:14:10 UTC · 7.523°S, 146.308°E
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck 49 km WSW of Wau, Papua New Guinea on Tuesday, February 26, 1963, 20:14:10 UTC, at a depth of 186.6 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.5 on May 12, 1938.
- Magnitude
- 7.5
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 187 km
- Intermediate
- 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
2.7 megatons of TNT
That is about 178 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 5,623 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
49 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Woodlark and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
187 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 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 39 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.01906 Papua New Guinea EarthquakeSeptember 14, 1906 · 173 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.638 km NW of Finschhafen, Papua New GuineaOctober 2, 1906 · 195 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.548 km NW of Finschhafen, Papua New GuineaMay 12, 1938 · 200 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.492 km WSW of Kandrian, Papua New GuineaMay 6, 1947 · 294 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.054 km NW of Bulolo, Papua New GuineaOctober 11, 1913 · 69 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0109 km SSE of Ialibu, Papua New GuineaAugust 3, 1916 · 214 km W of this epicenter
- 6.828 km ENE of Finschhafen, Papua New GuineaFebruary 3, 1907 · 230 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.842 km E of Lae, Papua New GuineaOctober 11, 1913 · 145 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1857M8.0
Bismarck Sea
17 Apr 1857 · 238 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1873M8.0
Maclay Coast
1873 · 228 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1938M7.5
Papua New Guinea
12 May 1938 · 236 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1947M7.3
New Britain
6 May 1947 · 267 km away
- 1951M7.2
Papua New Guinea
17 Feb 1951 · 67 km away
- 1875M7.0
Maclay Coast
1875 · 186 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.