Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea123y ago
M7.4 earthquake 177 km SW of Kavieng, Papua New Guinea
Friday, January 13, 1905, 13:20:39 UTC · 3.586°S, 149.551°E
A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck 177 km SW of Kavieng, Papua New Guinea on Friday, January 13, 1905, 13:20:39 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.4
- Major · 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
2.0 megatons of TNT
That is about 135 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 4,266 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
3 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
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 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 no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1899
New Ireland: East Coast
15 Jan 1899 · 280 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1899
Bismrack Sea
19 Oct 1899 · 233 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1900M6.8
Bismarck Sea
10 Sep 1900 · 276 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1905M7.5
Bismarck Sea
18 May 1905 · 77 km away
- 1900M7.1
Rabaul Harbor
17 Sep 1900 · 233 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.