Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea31y ago
M3.9 earthquake 18 km SE of Kieta, Papua New Guinea
Saturday, October 14, 1995, 07:13:02 UTC · 6.311°S, 155.768°E
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck 18 km SE of Kieta, Papua New Guinea on Saturday, October 14, 1995, 07:13:02 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.9
- 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
11 tons of TNT
That is about 1/1,410 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 45 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
130 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Pacific and North Bismarck plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
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 881 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 · 270 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.01971 New Britain EarthquakeJuly 14, 1971 · 231 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.956 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 85 km W of this epicenter
- 7.885 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 30, 1939 · 96 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.794 km SSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 111 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.7155 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaAugust 16, 1995 · 185 km W of this epicenter
- 7.7152 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaSeptember 29, 1946 · 295 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.6157 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaMarch 18, 1983 · 289 km NW 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 8 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1939M7.7
Bougainville Island
30 Jan 1939 · 95 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1971M7.9
New Ireland: Bougainville
14 Jul 1971 · 225 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1975M7.9
Bismarck Sea: Bougainville
20 Jul 1975 · 85 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1959M7.3
Solomon Islands
17 Aug 1959 · 135 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1983M7.6
New Ireland
18 Mar 1983 · 289 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1974M7.1
Solomon Islands
1 Feb 1974 · 123 km away · intensity VI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.