Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea109y ago
M6.0 earthquake 62 km SSE of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Sunday, July 21, 1918, 09:44:42 UTC · 6.793°S, 155.794°E
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 62 km SSE of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Sunday, July 21, 1918, 09:44:42 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on July 21, 1918.
- 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 35 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
86 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific 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 7 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 272 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.7112 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 21, 1918 · 67 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5177 km SW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaSeptember 3, 1916 · 186 km W of this epicenter
- 6.339 km N of Gizo, Solomon IslandsJune 16, 1918 · 153 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.3256 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaMay 21, 1913 · 299 km W of this epicenter
- 6.1128 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 12, 1917 · 92 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.0208 km SSE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 4, 1918 · 297 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1907M7.7
New Britain
4 May 1907 · 244 km away
- 1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 281 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.