Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea9y ago
M4.2 earthquake 70 km NW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Saturday, March 4, 2017, 06:32:14 UTC · 5.850°S, 155.044°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 70 km NW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Saturday, March 4, 2017, 06:32:14 UTC, at a depth of 170.1 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 170 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
30 tons of TNT
That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
54 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
170 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 lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.7 on March 25, 2017. 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 2,190 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 · 175 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.11971 Bougainville EarthquakeJuly 26, 1971 · 233 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.01971 New Britain EarthquakeJuly 14, 1971 · 137 km W of this epicenter
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 294 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.935 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 22, 2017 · 46 km S of this epicenter
- 7.9140 km E of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaDecember 17, 2016 · 225 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.956 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 82 km S of this epicenter
- 7.885 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 30, 1939 · 143 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 36 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 14 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1939M7.7
Bougainville Island
30 Jan 1939 · 142 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1971M7.9
New Ireland: Bougainville
14 Jul 1971 · 132 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 2017M7.9
Bougainville Island
22 Jan 2017 · 46 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1996M7.2
Bougainville Island
29 Apr 1996 · 74 km away
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 2014M7.1
Bougainville Island
11 Apr 2014 · 82 km away
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)
- 1989M5.4
New Britain: Rabaul
10 Mar 1989 · 300 km away · intensity V
1 death
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.