Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea40y ago
M3.6 earthquake 69 km WSW of Madang, Papua New Guinea
Friday, July 4, 1986, 13:57:34 UTC · 5.367°S, 145.177°E
A magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck 69 km WSW of Madang, Papua New Guinea on Friday, July 4, 1986, 13:57:34 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.6
- Minor · mb
- Depth
- 33 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
4 tons of TNT
That is about 1/3,975 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 126 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
2 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: shallow
33 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 434 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.01906 Papua New Guinea EarthquakeSeptember 14, 1906 · 246 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.638 km NW of Finschhafen, Papua New GuineaOctober 2, 1906 · 287 km E of this epicenter
- 7.548 km NW of Finschhafen, Papua New GuineaMay 12, 1938 · 280 km E of this epicenter
- 7.549 km WSW of Wau, Papua New GuineaFebruary 26, 1963 · 270 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.349 km NNE of Angoram, Papua New GuineaMay 7, 1907 · 217 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.244 km SSW of Angoram, Papua New GuineaJune 24, 1986 · 171 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.165 km ENE of Wewak, Papua New GuineaApril 27, 1909 · 254 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.061 km W of Angoram, Papua New GuineaJune 9, 1925 · 230 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 14 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 18 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1970M7.3
Madang
31 Oct 1970 · 61 km away · intensity VIII
18 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1857M8.0
Bismarck Sea
17 Apr 1857 · 202 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1873M8.0
Maclay Coast
1873 · 92 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1984M6.6
Karkar
27 Mar 1984 · 106 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1979M6.2
E, Mt Hagen
25 Jun 1979 · 62 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1938M7.5
Papua New Guinea
12 May 1938 · 299 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.