Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea114y ago
M6.8 earthquake 172 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
Wednesday, September 3, 1913, 20:51:27 UTC · 5.310°S, 153.489°E
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 172 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, September 3, 1913, 20:51:27 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.4 on May 30, 1913.
- Magnitude
- 6.8
- 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
256 kilotons of TNT
That is about 17 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 537 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
11 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 6 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.497 km SW of Rabaul, Papua New GuineaMay 30, 1913 · 227 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 147 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.0170 km SE of Kimbe, Papua New GuineaMarch 4, 1905 · 291 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.6268 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaMay 4, 1907 · 172 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5113 km SW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJuly 22, 1913 · 201 km W of this epicenter
- 6.3256 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaMay 21, 1913 · 140 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 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 · 181 km away
1 deathtsunami
- 1900M6.8
Bismarck Sea
10 Sep 1900 · 220 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 245 km away
- 1768M7.5
New Ireland
22 Jun 1768 · 92 km away
tsunami
- 1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 66 km away
- 1910M6.0
Matupi Harbor
25 Feb 1910 · 181 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.