Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea9y ago
M4.2 earthquake 139 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Friday, February 17, 2017, 12:27:00 UTC · 6.857°S, 154.346°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 139 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Friday, February 17, 2017, 12:27:00 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 35 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
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
18 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North Bismarck and Solomon Sea plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
35 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 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 2,254 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 · 234 km N of this epicenter
- 8.11971 Bougainville EarthquakeJuly 26, 1971 · 256 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.01971 New Britain EarthquakeJuly 14, 1971 · 163 km N of this epicenter
- 7.935 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 22, 2017 · 114 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.9140 km E of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaDecember 17, 2016 · 277 km N of this epicenter
- 7.956 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 84 km E of this epicenter
- 7.885 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 30, 1939 · 118 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8135 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaNovember 16, 2000 · 227 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 33 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 13 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1939M7.7
Bougainville Island
30 Jan 1939 · 117 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1971M7.9
New Ireland: Bougainville
14 Jul 1971 · 159 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 2017M7.9
Bougainville Island
22 Jan 2017 · 114 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1996M7.2
Bougainville Island
29 Apr 1996 · 81 km away
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 2014M7.1
Bougainville Island
11 Apr 2014 · 83 km away
1 deathLimited damage (under $1M)
- 1975M7.9
Bismarck Sea: Bougainville
20 Jul 1975 · 84 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.