M6.3 earthquake 256 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea

Wednesday, May 21, 1913, 13:48:36 UTC · 6.511°S, 153.100°E

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 256 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, May 21, 1913, 13:48:36 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on September 1, 1912.

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

76 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the South 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 5 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 · 268 km away
1 deathtsunami
1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 128 km away
1768M7.5
New Ireland
22 Jun 1768 · 188 km away
tsunami
1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 195 km away
1910M6.0
Matupi Harbor
25 Feb 1910 · 268 km away
tsunami
1911
Matupit Island
8 May 1911 · 268 km away
tsunami

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

Nearby trackers