Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea110y ago
M6.0 earthquake 208 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
Friday, January 4, 1918, 15:49:05 UTC · 5.963°S, 153.235°E
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 208 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea on Friday, January 4, 1918, 15:49:05 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on October 29, 1917.
- Magnitude
- 6.0
- 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
17 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 36 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
16 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 13 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 150 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.497 km SW of Rabaul, Papua New GuineaMay 30, 1913 · 231 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 214 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.0170 km SE of Kimbe, Papua New GuineaMarch 4, 1905 · 235 km W of this epicenter
- 6.8172 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaSeptember 3, 1913 · 78 km N of this epicenter
- 6.7129 km SE of Kimbe, Papua New GuineaSeptember 7, 1910 · 265 km W of this epicenter
- 6.6268 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaMay 4, 1907 · 95 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5113 km SW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJuly 22, 1913 · 193 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 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 · 220 km away
1 deathtsunami
- 1916M7.9
Solomon Islands
1 Jan 1916 · 156 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1900M6.8
Bismarck Sea
10 Sep 1900 · 258 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 178 km away
- 1768M7.5
New Ireland
22 Jun 1768 · 133 km away
tsunami
- 1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 137 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.