Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea34y ago
M4.3 earthquake 42 km ENE of Madang, Papua New Guinea
Thursday, September 10, 1992, 01:17:54 UTC · 5.015°S, 146.105°E
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 42 km ENE of Madang, Papua New Guinea on Thursday, September 10, 1992, 01:17:54 UTC, at a depth of 24.5 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 25 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
43 tons of TNT
That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
105 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the South Bismarck and Woodlark plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
25 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 690 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 · 184 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.638 km NW of Finschhafen, Papua New GuineaOctober 2, 1906 · 219 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.548 km NW of Finschhafen, Papua New GuineaMay 12, 1938 · 210 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.549 km WSW of Wau, Papua New GuineaFebruary 26, 1963 · 280 km S of this epicenter
- 7.454 km NNW of Finschhafen, Papua New GuineaFebruary 8, 1987 · 212 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.349 km NNE of Angoram, Papua New GuineaMay 7, 1907 · 256 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.261 km NNW of Finschhafen, Papua New GuineaMay 15, 1992 · 201 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.244 km SSW of Angoram, Papua New GuineaJune 24, 1986 · 248 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 17 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 95 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1988M4.3
Kaiapit (Landslide Generated)
6 Sep 1988 · 117 km away
74 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1970M7.3
Madang
31 Oct 1970 · 71 km away · intensity VIII
18 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
- 1987M7.6
Huon Peninsula, Umboi Island
8 Feb 1987 · 212 km away · intensity VII
3 deaths$3 million damagetsunami
- 1857M8.0
Bismarck Sea
17 Apr 1857 · 113 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1873M8.0
Maclay Coast
1873 · 55 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1984M6.6
Karkar
27 Mar 1984 · 53 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.