Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea89y ago
M6.8 earthquake 110 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Wednesday, December 7, 1938, 13:23:55 UTC · 6.064°S, 154.516°E
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 110 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, December 7, 1938, 13:23:55 UTC, at a depth of 55.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.9 on September 23, 1937.
- Magnitude
- 6.8
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 55 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
239 kilotons of TNT
That is about 16 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 501 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
2 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
55 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 60 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 · 158 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 255 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.361 km NW of Gizo, Solomon IslandsApril 19, 1936 · 282 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 159 km N of this epicenter
- 7.069 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaNovember 4, 1923 · 249 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0133 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 29, 1932 · 66 km S of this epicenter
- 6.9160 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaSeptember 23, 1937 · 83 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.9115 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 9, 1932 · 7 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1919M8.2
Solomon Islands
6 May 1919 · 158 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1916M7.9
Solomon Islands
1 Jan 1916 · 263 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 183 km away
- 1768M7.5
New Ireland
22 Jun 1768 · 233 km away
tsunami
- 1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 131 km away
- 1923M7.1
Bismarck Archipelago
2 Nov 1923 · 160 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.