M4.5 earthquake 87 km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea

Monday, November 24, 1975, 10:52:07 UTC · 6.228°S, 154.695°E

A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 87 km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Monday, November 24, 1975, 10:52:07 UTC, at a depth of 416.0 km (deep). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.4 on November 23, 1975.

Magnitude: 4.5; Light · mb
Depth: 416 km; Deep
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

85 tons of TNT

That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

18 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: deep

416 km

Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.

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 527 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 23 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 8 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1939M7.7
Bougainville Island
30 Jan 1939 · 122 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1971M7.9
New Ireland: Bougainville
14 Jul 1971 · 120 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
1975M7.9
Bismarck Sea: Bougainville
20 Jul 1975 · 57 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1959M7.3
Solomon Islands
17 Aug 1959 · 202 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1971M8.1
Bismarck Sea Rabaul
26 Jul 1971 · 226 km away · intensity VI
$1 million damagetsunami
1974M7.1
Solomon Islands
1 Feb 1974 · 164 km away · intensity VI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

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

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