Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea106y ago
M6.4 earthquake 162 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Thursday, May 12, 1921, 03:40:22 UTC · 5.791°S, 154.110°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 162 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Thursday, May 12, 1921, 03:40:22 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.8 on February 2, 1920.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 km
- Shallow
- 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
60 kilotons of TNT
That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 126 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
42 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: 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 21 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 · 113 km N of this epicenter
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 201 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.874 km SSW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaFebruary 2, 1920 · 249 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 141 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.8172 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaSeptember 3, 1913 · 87 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.783 km NE of Rabaul, Papua New GuineaSeptember 30, 1918 · 297 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.7112 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 21, 1918 · 232 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.795 km S of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaAugust 8, 1918 · 204 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 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 · 268 km away
1 deathtsunami
- 1919M8.2
Solomon Islands
6 May 1919 · 113 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1916M7.9
Solomon Islands
1 Jan 1916 · 209 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 195 km away
- 1768M7.5
New Ireland
22 Jun 1768 · 179 km away
tsunami
- 1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 89 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.