Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea39y ago
M4.6 earthquake 58 km ESE of Lae, Papua New Guinea
Friday, June 19, 1987, 21:17:21 UTC · 7.013°S, 147.444°E
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 58 km ESE of Lae, Papua New Guinea on Friday, June 19, 1987, 21:17:21 UTC, at a depth of 90.3 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.6 on June 17, 1987.
- Magnitude
- 4.6
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 90 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
120 tons of TNT
That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
5 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
90 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 494 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 · 88 km N of this epicenter
- 7.638 km NW of Finschhafen, Papua New GuineaOctober 2, 1906 · 79 km N of this epicenter
- 7.548 km NW of Finschhafen, Papua New GuineaMay 12, 1938 · 89 km N of this epicenter
- 7.549 km WSW of Wau, Papua New GuineaFebruary 26, 1963 · 138 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.492 km WSW of Kandrian, Papua New GuineaMay 6, 1947 · 156 km E of this epicenter
- 7.454 km NNW of Finschhafen, Papua New GuineaFebruary 8, 1987 · 106 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 15 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 3 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1987M7.6
Huon Peninsula, Umboi Island
8 Feb 1987 · 106 km away · intensity VII
3 deaths$3 million damagetsunami
- 1906M8.0
New Britain
14 Sep 1906 · 172 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1857M8.0
Bismarck Sea
17 Apr 1857 · 175 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1873M8.0
Maclay Coast
1873 · 232 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1987M7.7
New Britain: Kandrian, Kimbte
16 Oct 1987 · 197 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1899
Bismrack Sea
19 Oct 1899 · 232 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.