Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea99y ago
M6.5 earthquake 148 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
Tuesday, March 13, 1928, 18:31:52 UTC · 5.038°S, 153.417°E
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 148 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea on Tuesday, March 13, 1928, 18:31:52 UTC, at a depth of 75.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on February 1, 1927.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 75 km
- Intermediate
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- V
- Moderate (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
97 kilotons of TNT
That is about 6 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 204 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
20 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North Bismarck and South Bismarck plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
75 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 27 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 · 55 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 93 km W of this epicenter
- 7.874 km SSW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaFebruary 2, 1920 · 155 km W of this epicenter
- 7.497 km SW of Rabaul, Papua New GuineaMay 30, 1913 · 213 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 142 km E of this epicenter
- 7.069 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaNovember 4, 1923 · 82 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.8172 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaSeptember 3, 1913 · 31 km S of this epicenter
- 6.783 km NE of Rabaul, Papua New GuineaSeptember 30, 1918 · 185 km NW 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 1 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1878
Bismarck Sea
4 Feb 1878 · 156 km away
1 deathtsunami
- 1899
New Ireland: East Coast
15 Jan 1899 · 276 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1919M8.2
Solomon Islands
6 May 1919 · 55 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1916M7.9
Solomon Islands
1 Jan 1916 · 102 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1900M6.8
Bismarck Sea
10 Sep 1900 · 195 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 276 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.