Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea108y ago
M6.4 earthquake 207 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
Wednesday, May 7, 1919, 05:13:54 UTC · 5.669°S, 153.594°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 207 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, May 7, 1919, 05:13:54 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
- 6.4
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 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
56 kilotons of TNT
That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 117 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
0 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 19 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 · 100 km N of this epicenter
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 148 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.497 km SW of Rabaul, Papua New GuineaMay 30, 1913 · 250 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 162 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.0170 km SE of Kimbe, Papua New GuineaMarch 4, 1905 · 283 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.8172 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaSeptember 3, 1913 · 42 km N of this epicenter
- 6.783 km NE of Rabaul, Papua New GuineaSeptember 30, 1918 · 256 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.795 km S of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaAugust 8, 1918 · 145 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 9 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 · 217 km away
1 deathtsunami
- 1919M8.2
Solomon Islands
6 May 1919 · 100 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1916M7.9
Solomon Islands
1 Jan 1916 · 155 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1900M6.8
Bismarck Sea
10 Sep 1900 · 256 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 204 km away
- 1768M7.5
New Ireland
22 Jun 1768 · 127 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.