Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea96y ago
M6.3 earthquake 183 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Saturday, January 30, 1932, 03:04:53 UTC · 7.333°S, 154.172°E
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 183 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Saturday, January 30, 1932, 03:04:53 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on January 29, 1932.
- 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
47 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 99 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
67 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.0 on January 31, 1932. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 29 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.21919 Papua New Guinea EarthquakeMay 6, 1919 · 283 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0133 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 29, 1932 · 80 km N of this epicenter
- 6.9115 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 9, 1932 · 141 km N of this epicenter
- 6.8172 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaSeptember 3, 1913 · 237 km N of this epicenter
- 6.869 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaApril 24, 1931 · 119 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.7112 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 21, 1918 · 149 km E of this epicenter
- 6.751 km SW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaFebruary 1, 1927 · 132 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.6268 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaMay 4, 1907 · 164 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1919M8.2
Solomon Islands
6 May 1919 · 283 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 55 km away
- 1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 260 km away
- 1923M7.1
Bismarck Archipelago
2 Nov 1923 · 298 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.