QuakeScout
Magnitude6.2

Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea90y ago

M6.2 earthquake 188 km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea

Wednesday, October 6, 1937, 17:04:50 UTC · 6.394°S, 153.779°E

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 188 km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, October 6, 1937, 17:04:50 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.9 on September 23, 1937.

Magnitude
6.2
Strong · mw
Depth
15 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

31 kilotons of TNT

That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 65 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

22 km

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

Depth: shallow

15 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 71 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 · 177 km N of this epicenter
  2. 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 222 km NW of this epicenter
  3. 7.874 km SSW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaFebruary 2, 1920 · 251 km NW of this epicenter
  4. 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 217 km NE of this epicenter
  5. 7.069 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaNovember 4, 1923 · 228 km NW of this epicenter
  6. 7.0133 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 29, 1932 · 65 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 7.0170 km SE of Kimbe, Papua New GuineaMarch 4, 1905 · 283 km W of this epicenter
  8. 6.9160 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaSeptember 23, 1937 · 46 km SE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 12 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 508 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1937

    Keravia, Rabaul, Kokopo

    28 May 1937 · 294 km away · intensity VIII

    507 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1878

    Bismarck Sea

    4 Feb 1878 · 292 km away

    1 deathtsunami

  3. 1919M8.2

    Solomon Islands

    6 May 1919 · 177 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  4. 1916M7.9

    Solomon Islands

    1 Jan 1916 · 229 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  5. 1907M7.7

    New Britain

    4 May 1907 · 123 km away

  6. 1768M7.5

    New Ireland

    22 Jun 1768 · 203 km away

    tsunami

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

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