M6.9 earthquake 115 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea

Saturday, January 9, 1932, 10:21:49 UTC · 6.094°S, 154.464°E

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck 115 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Saturday, January 9, 1932, 10:21:49 UTC, at a depth of 395.0 km (deep). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on November 4, 1923.

Magnitude: 6.9; Strong · mw
Depth: 395 km; Deep
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: IV; Light (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

338 kilotons of TNT

That is about 22 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 708 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

8 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: deep

395 km

Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.

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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M7.0 on January 29, 1932. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 34 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

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 · 158 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1916M7.9
Solomon Islands
1 Jan 1916 · 260 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 178 km away
1768M7.5
New Ireland
22 Jun 1768 · 230 km away
tsunami
1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 132 km away
1923M7.1
Bismarck Archipelago
2 Nov 1923 · 162 km away
tsunami

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

Nearby trackers