Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea96y ago
M6.8 earthquake 69 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Friday, April 24, 1931, 17:22:16 UTC · 6.532°S, 154.890°E
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 69 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Friday, April 24, 1931, 17:22:16 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M8.2 on May 6, 1919.
- Magnitude
- 6.8
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 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
201 kilotons of TNT
That is about 13 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 422 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
31 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
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 30 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 · 223 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 213 km N of this epicenter
- 6.8172 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaSeptember 3, 1913 · 206 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.7112 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 21, 1918 · 114 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.751 km SW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaFebruary 1, 1927 · 27 km E of this epicenter
- 6.6268 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaMay 4, 1907 · 229 km W of this epicenter
- 6.5148 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaMarch 13, 1928 · 233 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.537 km SSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaApril 6, 1931 · 47 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1919M8.2
Solomon Islands
6 May 1919 · 223 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 170 km away
- 1768M7.5
New Ireland
22 Jun 1768 · 297 km away
tsunami
- 1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 197 km away
- 1923M7.1
Bismarck Archipelago
2 Nov 1923 · 221 km away
tsunami
- 1923M7.1
Bismarck Archipelago
4 Nov 1923 · 297 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.