Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea115y ago
M7.0 earthquake 204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New Guinea
Sunday, September 1, 1912, 04:10:03 UTC · 4.636°S, 154.629°E
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck 204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New Guinea on Sunday, September 1, 1912, 04:10:03 UTC, at a depth of 425.0 km (deep). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.0
- Major · mB
- Depth
- 425 km
- Deep
- 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
477 kilotons of TNT
That is about 32 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,000 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
33 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: deep
425 km
Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.
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, which together caused about 1 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1878
Bismarck Sea
4 Feb 1878 · 267 km away
1 deathtsunami
- 1900M6.8
Bismarck Sea
10 Sep 1900 · 300 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1768M7.5
New Ireland
22 Jun 1768 · 204 km away
tsunami
- 1910M6.0
Matupi Harbor
25 Feb 1910 · 267 km away
tsunami
- 1911
Matupit Island
8 May 1911 · 267 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.