M5.4 earthquake 68 km NNE of Kainantu, Papua New Guinea

Sunday, September 20, 2026, 12:45:53 UTC · 5.771°S, 146.204°E

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 68 km NNE of Kainantu, Papua New Guinea on Sunday, September 20, 2026, 12:45:53 UTC, at a depth of 116.0 km (intermediate). USGS received 7 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of V (moderate). The USGS PAGER alert is green: low likelihood of casualties and damage. It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.4 on September 20, 2026.

Magnitude: 5.4; Moderate · mww
Depth: 116 km; Intermediate
Felt reports: 7; Max intensity V
Est. shaking: IV; Light (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: Green; Impact estimate
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

2 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/8 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 4 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

43 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

116 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

Reports sent by people to USGS, grouped by place (most reports first). Intensity uses the Modified Mercalli scale (I–X): what people felt, not the magnitude.

Place	Intensity	Reports	Distance
Goroka, Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea	III · Weak	2	151 km
Madang, Madang, Papua New Guinea	V · Moderate	1	138 km
Mount Hagen, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea	III · Weak	1	248 km

I felt it — report to USGS ↗

USGS PAGER estimate

Who was exposed to shaking

Modelled from the ShakeMap and population data. Alert level green: low likelihood of casualties and damage.

IV · Light shaking: 303,000 people
III · Weak shaking: 974,000 people

Estimated shaking in nearby towns

MadangPopulation 62,000IV · Light
KainantuPopulation 6,700IV · Light
GorokaPopulation 22,000III · Weak

After the main event

Aftershocks within 75 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km since this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,440 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 · 32 km away
74 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1993M6.9
Eastern: Upper Markham Valley
13 Oct 1993 · 24 km away
60 deaths$5 million damage
2002M5.3
Morobe
1 Apr 2002 · 142 km away
36 deaths
2022M7.6
Morobe, Eastern Highlands
10 Sep 2022 · 67 km away · intensity VIII
21 deaths$15 million damage
1970M7.3
Madang
31 Oct 1970 · 126 km away · intensity VIII
18 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
1987M7.6
Huon Peninsula, Umboi Island
8 Feb 1987 · 168 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