Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea31y ago
M4.4 earthquake 172 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New Guinea
Wednesday, September 13, 1995, 18:42:12 UTC · 4.767°S, 155.038°E
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 172 km NNW of Arawa, Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, September 13, 1995, 18:42:12 UTC, at a depth of 508.7 km (deep).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 509 km
- Deep
- 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
60 tons of TNT
That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
7 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and North Bismarck plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: deep
509 km
Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.
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 1,081 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 · 131 km W of this epicenter
- 8.11971 Bougainville EarthquakeJuly 26, 1971 · 206 km W of this epicenter
- 8.01971 New Britain EarthquakeJuly 14, 1971 · 152 km SW of this epicenter
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 267 km W of this epicenter
- 7.956 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 203 km S of this epicenter
- 7.885 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 30, 1939 · 261 km S of this epicenter
- 7.794 km SSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 260 km S of this epicenter
- 7.7155 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaAugust 16, 1995 · 149 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 27 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 9 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1939M7.7
Bougainville Island
30 Jan 1939 · 260 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1971M7.9
New Ireland: Bougainville
14 Jul 1971 · 150 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1989M5.4
New Britain: Rabaul
10 Mar 1989 · 253 km away · intensity V
1 death
- 1975M7.9
Bismarck Sea: Bougainville
20 Jul 1975 · 203 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1967M6.4
Bismarck Sea
13 Aug 1967 · 284 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1971M8.1
Bismarck Sea Rabaul
26 Jul 1971 · 206 km away · intensity VI
$1 million damagetsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.