Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea109y ago
M6.3 earthquake 182 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Friday, March 21, 1919, 16:01:50 UTC · 6.743°S, 153.888°E
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 182 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Friday, March 21, 1919, 16:01:50 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on August 8, 1918.
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
44 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 92 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
43 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North Bismarck and Solomon Sea 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 16 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 261 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 248 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0170 km SE of Kimbe, Papua New GuineaMarch 4, 1905 · 294 km W of this epicenter
- 6.8172 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaSeptember 3, 1913 · 165 km N of this epicenter
- 6.7112 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 21, 1918 · 192 km E of this epicenter
- 6.795 km S of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaAugust 8, 1918 · 240 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.6268 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaMay 4, 1907 · 118 km W of this epicenter
- 6.5113 km SW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJuly 22, 1913 · 300 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1919M8.2
Solomon Islands
6 May 1919 · 215 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1916M7.9
Solomon Islands
1 Jan 1916 · 268 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 87 km away
- 1768M7.5
New Ireland
22 Jun 1768 · 242 km away
tsunami
- 1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 194 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.