Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea101y ago
M6.7 earthquake 51 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Tuesday, February 1, 1927, 17:56:35 UTC · 6.615°S, 155.123°E
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 51 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Tuesday, February 1, 1927, 17:56:35 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M8.2 on May 6, 1919.
- Magnitude
- 6.7
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 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
153 kilotons of TNT
That is about 10 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 320 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
51 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
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 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 20 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 · 245 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 227 km N of this epicenter
- 6.8172 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaSeptember 3, 1913 · 232 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.7112 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 21, 1918 · 92 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.6268 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaMay 4, 1907 · 254 km W of this epicenter
- 6.5177 km SW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaSeptember 3, 1916 · 126 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5277 km WSW of Gizo, Solomon IslandsDecember 13, 1920 · 281 km S of this epicenter
- 6.4162 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaMay 12, 1921 · 145 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1919M8.2
Solomon Islands
6 May 1919 · 245 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 185 km away
- 1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 218 km away
- 1923M7.1
Bismarck Archipelago
2 Nov 1923 · 239 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.