Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea90y ago
M6.9 earthquake 160 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Thursday, September 23, 1937, 13:06:02 UTC · 6.677°S, 154.083°E
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck 160 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Thursday, September 23, 1937, 13:06:02 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.3 on April 19, 1936.
- Magnitude
- 6.9
- 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
349 kilotons of TNT
That is about 23 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 733 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
24 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North Bismarck and Solomon Sea 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.2 on October 6, 1937. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 66 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 · 210 km N of this epicenter
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 268 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.874 km SSW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaFebruary 2, 1920 · 297 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.361 km NW of Gizo, Solomon IslandsApril 19, 1936 · 289 km E of this epicenter
- 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 235 km N of this epicenter
- 7.069 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaNovember 4, 1923 · 272 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0133 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 29, 1932 · 27 km E of this epicenter
- 6.9115 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 9, 1932 · 77 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:
- 1919M8.2
Solomon Islands
6 May 1919 · 210 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1916M7.9
Solomon Islands
1 Jan 1916 · 274 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 101 km away
- 1768M7.5
New Ireland
22 Jun 1768 · 248 km away
tsunami
- 1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 187 km away
- 1923M7.1
Bismarck Archipelago
2 Nov 1923 · 226 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.