M8.0 earthquake 60 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea

Saturday, January 1, 1916, 13:20:48 UTC · 4.756°S, 152.626°E

A magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck 60 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea on Saturday, January 1, 1916, 13:20:48 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.

Magnitude: 8.0; Major · mw
Depth: 35 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VII; Very 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

13 megatons of TNT

That is about 872 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 27,542 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

38 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 200 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 9 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 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 · 70 km away
1 deathtsunami
1899
New Ireland: East Coast
15 Jan 1899 · 207 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1916M7.9
Solomon Islands
1 Jan 1916 · 9 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1900M6.8
Bismarck Sea
10 Sep 1900 · 109 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1768M7.5
New Ireland
22 Jun 1768 · 22 km away
tsunami
1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 155 km away

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

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