QuakeScout
Magnitude6.5

Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea86y ago

M6.5 earthquake 68 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea

Sunday, February 9, 1941, 19:19:31 UTC · 4.914°S, 152.510°E

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 68 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea on Sunday, February 9, 1941, 19:19:31 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on January 13, 1941.

Magnitude
6.5
Strong · mw
Depth
35 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

82 kilotons of TNT

That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 172 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

58 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

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 85 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 · 150 km E of this epicenter
  2. 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 22 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.874 km SSW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaFebruary 2, 1920 · 55 km W of this epicenter
  4. 7.497 km SW of Rabaul, Papua New GuineaMay 30, 1913 · 111 km W of this epicenter
  5. 7.2New Britain region, Papua New GuineaJanuary 13, 1941 · 97 km NW of this epicenter
  6. 7.061 km ENE of Kimbe, Papua New GuineaFebruary 28, 1934 · 212 km W of this epicenter
  7. 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 237 km E of this epicenter
  8. 7.069 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaNovember 4, 1923 · 54 km NE 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 512 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1937

    Keravia, Rabaul, Kokopo

    28 May 1937 · 79 km away · intensity VIII

    507 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1941M7.4

    Bismarck Sea

    13 Jan 1941 · 96 km away

    4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  3. 1878

    Bismarck Sea

    4 Feb 1878 · 79 km away

    1 deathtsunami

  4. 1899

    New Ireland: East Coast

    15 Jan 1899 · 220 km away

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  5. 1919M8.2

    Solomon Islands

    6 May 1919 · 150 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  6. 1916M7.9

    Solomon Islands

    1 Jan 1916 · 20 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages