M5.0 earthquake 68 km NW of Lae, Papua New Guinea

Monday, September 14, 2026, 22:06:53 UTC · 6.264°S, 146.580°E

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 68 km NW of Lae, Papua New Guinea on Monday, September 14, 2026, 22:06:53 UTC, at a depth of 120.5 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.4 on September 2, 2026.

Magnitude: 5.0; Moderate · mb
Depth: 121 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: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

477 tons of TNT

That is about 1/32 of the Hiroshima bomb. Each whole step in magnitude is about 32 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

27 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the South Bismarck and Woodlark plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: intermediate

121 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 75 km

USGS lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km since this event; the largest was M6.4 on September 20, 2026. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,271 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

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 213 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1988M4.3
Kaiapit (Landslide Generated)
6 Sep 1988 · 45 km away
74 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1993M6.9
Eastern: Upper Markham Valley
13 Oct 1993 · 75 km away
60 deaths$5 million damage
2002M5.3
Morobe
1 Apr 2002 · 93 km away
36 deaths
2022M7.6
Morobe, Eastern Highlands
10 Sep 2022 · 9 km away · intensity VIII
21 deaths$15 million damage
1970M7.3
Madang
31 Oct 1970 · 195 km away · intensity VIII
18 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
1987M7.6
Huon Peninsula, Umboi Island
8 Feb 1987 · 124 km away · intensity VII
3 deaths$3 million damagetsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers