Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea109y ago
M6.4 earthquake 212 km ENE of Kavieng, Papua New Guinea
Monday, June 24, 1918, 14:47:08 UTC · 2.148°S, 152.657°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 212 km ENE of Kavieng, Papua New Guinea on Monday, June 24, 1918, 14:47:08 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on May 20, 1918.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 25 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
1 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
25 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 2 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 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 · 238 km away
1 deathtsunami
- 1899
New Ireland: East Coast
15 Jan 1899 · 120 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1916M7.9
Solomon Islands
1 Jan 1916 · 288 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1900M6.8
Bismarck Sea
10 Sep 1900 · 218 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1910M6.0
Matupi Harbor
25 Feb 1910 · 238 km away
tsunami
- 1911
Matupit Island
8 May 1911 · 238 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.