Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea9y ago
M4.6 earthquake 13 km SSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Wednesday, March 8, 2017, 20:44:40 UTC · 6.433°S, 155.436°E
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 13 km SSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, 20:44:40 UTC, at a depth of 141.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on March 7, 2017.
- Magnitude
- 4.6
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 141 km
- Intermediate
- 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
120 tons of TNT
That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
91 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: intermediate
141 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 50 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,760 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 · 251 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.12007 Solomon Islands EarthquakeApril 1, 2007 · 287 km SE of this epicenter
- 8.01971 New Britain EarthquakeJuly 14, 1971 · 204 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.935 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 22, 2017 · 36 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.956 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 46 km W of this epicenter
- 7.885 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 30, 1939 · 73 km S of this epicenter
- 7.8135 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaNovember 16, 2000 · 291 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.794 km SSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 81 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 26 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 65 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 2007M8.1
Solomon Islands
1 Apr 2007 · 287 km away
52 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1939M7.7
Bougainville Island
30 Jan 1939 · 72 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1971M7.9
New Ireland: Bougainville
14 Jul 1971 · 199 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 2017M7.9
Bougainville Island
22 Jan 2017 · 36 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1996M7.2
Bougainville Island
29 Apr 1996 · 49 km away
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 2014M7.1
Bougainville Island
11 Apr 2014 · 46 km away
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.