Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea109y ago
M6.7 earthquake 83 km NE of Rabaul, Papua New Guinea
Monday, September 30, 1918, 18:37:49 UTC · 3.585°S, 152.606°E
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 83 km NE of Rabaul, Papua New Guinea on Monday, September 30, 1918, 18:37:49 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on May 20, 1918.
- Magnitude
- 6.7
- 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
175 kilotons of TNT
That is about 12 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 367 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
40 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 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 12 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 · 130 km S of this epicenter
- 7.497 km SW of Rabaul, Papua New GuineaMay 30, 1913 · 181 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.0204 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New GuineaSeptember 1, 1912 · 253 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.0241 km NNE of Rabaul, Papua New GuineaMay 20, 1918 · 159 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.8172 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaSeptember 3, 1913 · 215 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.795 km S of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaAugust 8, 1918 · 182 km S of this epicenter
- 6.5113 km SW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJuly 22, 1913 · 205 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.4212 km ENE of Kavieng, Papua New GuineaJune 24, 1918 · 160 km N 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 · 84 km away
1 deathtsunami
- 1899
New Ireland: East Coast
15 Jan 1899 · 94 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1916M7.9
Solomon Islands
1 Jan 1916 · 128 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1900M6.8
Bismarck Sea
10 Sep 1900 · 82 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1768M7.5
New Ireland
22 Jun 1768 · 142 km away
tsunami
- 1913M7.5
Solomon Islands
30 May 1913 · 221 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.