Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea43y ago
M4.8 earthquake 115 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Thursday, June 16, 1983, 09:58:08 UTC · 6.944°S, 154.652°E
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 115 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Thursday, June 16, 1983, 09:58:08 UTC, at a depth of 42.2 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on June 13, 1983.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 42 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
239 tons of TNT
That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
1 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
42 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 714 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 · 253 km N of this epicenter
- 8.11971 Bougainville EarthquakeJuly 26, 1971 · 282 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.01971 New Britain EarthquakeJuly 14, 1971 · 186 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.956 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 59 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.885 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 30, 1939 · 83 km E of this epicenter
- 7.794 km SSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 58 km E of this epicenter
- 7.7152 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaSeptember 29, 1946 · 242 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.6157 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaMarch 18, 1983 · 258 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 20 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 · 82 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1971M7.9
New Ireland: Bougainville
14 Jul 1971 · 181 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1975M7.9
Bismarck Sea: Bougainville
20 Jul 1975 · 59 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1959M7.3
Solomon Islands
17 Aug 1959 · 161 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1971M8.1
Bismarck Sea Rabaul
26 Jul 1971 · 282 km away · intensity VI
$1 million damagetsunami
- 1983M7.6
New Ireland
18 Mar 1983 · 258 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.