Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea40y ago
M4.8 earthquake 103 km SE of Angoram, Papua New Guinea
Monday, July 14, 1986, 07:52:17 UTC · 4.812°S, 144.625°E
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 103 km SE of Angoram, Papua New Guinea on Monday, July 14, 1986, 07:52:17 UTC, at a depth of 92.9 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.3 on July 6, 1986.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 93 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 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
16 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
93 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 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 366 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.650 km N of Wewak, Papua New GuineaJuly 3, 1918 · 224 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.349 km NNE of Angoram, Papua New GuineaMay 7, 1907 · 136 km N of this epicenter
- 7.244 km SSW of Angoram, Papua New GuineaJune 24, 1986 · 86 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.1132 km NNE of Wewak, Papua New GuineaAugust 26, 1906 · 263 km N of this epicenter
- 7.165 km ENE of Wewak, Papua New GuineaApril 27, 1909 · 174 km N of this epicenter
- 7.061 km W of Angoram, Papua New GuineaJune 9, 1925 · 145 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.055 km NNW of Ambunti, Papua New GuineaSeptember 20, 1935 · 250 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.042 km WNW of Wewak, Papua New GuineaOctober 23, 1968 · 219 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 · 94 km away · intensity VIII
18 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1857M8.0
Bismarck Sea
17 Apr 1857 · 274 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1873M8.0
Maclay Coast
1873 · 170 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1968M7.5
N Coast, Wewak, Dagua
23 Oct 1968 · 215 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1984M6.6
Karkar
27 Mar 1984 · 132 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1979M6.2
E, Mt Hagen
25 Jun 1979 · 107 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.