QuakeScout
Magnitude6.0

Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea83y ago

M6.0 earthquake 167 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea

Saturday, December 25, 1943, 04:32:14 UTC · 5.625°S, 154.141°E

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 167 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Saturday, December 25, 1943, 04:32:14 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.5 on December 24, 1943.

Magnitude
6.0
Strong · mw
Depth
35 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

17 kilotons of TNT

That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 36 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

48 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and North Bismarck plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

35 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 93 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.21919 Papua New Guinea EarthquakeMay 6, 1919 · 96 km N of this epicenter
  2. 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 194 km NW of this epicenter
  3. 7.885 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 30, 1939 · 213 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.874 km SSW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaFebruary 2, 1920 · 246 km W of this epicenter
  5. 7.2New Britain region, Papua New GuineaJanuary 13, 1941 · 288 km NW of this epicenter
  6. 7.2205 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaDecember 23, 1943 · 53 km W of this epicenter
  7. 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 123 km NE of this epicenter
  8. 7.069 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaNovember 4, 1923 · 185 km NW of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 16 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 517 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1937

    Keravia, Rabaul, Kokopo

    28 May 1937 · 262 km away · intensity VIII

    507 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1939M7.7

    Bougainville Island

    30 Jan 1939 · 212 km away

    5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  3. 1941M7.4

    Bismarck Sea

    13 Jan 1941 · 280 km away

    4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  4. 1878

    Bismarck Sea

    4 Feb 1878 · 259 km away

    1 deathtsunami

  5. 1919M8.2

    Solomon Islands

    6 May 1919 · 96 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  6. 1916M7.9

    Solomon Islands

    1 Jan 1916 · 202 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

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

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