Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea31y ago
M4.3 earthquake 140 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Wednesday, November 8, 1995, 22:33:42 UTC · 6.669°S, 154.260°E
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 140 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, November 8, 1995, 22:33:42 UTC, at a depth of 65.7 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 66 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
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
10 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North Bismarck and Solomon Sea plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
66 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 lists 4 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.5 on December 8, 1995. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
- 3.8175 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea31y ago · 35 km W of this epicenter
- 4.0152 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea31y ago · 13 km SW of this epicenter
- 4.5133 km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea31y ago · 42 km N of this epicenter
- 3.9138 km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea31y ago · 24 km N of this epicenter
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,293 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 · 212 km N of this epicenter
- 8.11971 Bougainville EarthquakeJuly 26, 1971 · 233 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.01971 New Britain EarthquakeJuly 14, 1971 · 141 km N of this epicenter
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 279 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.956 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 88 km E of this epicenter
- 7.885 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 30, 1939 · 133 km E of this epicenter
- 7.794 km SSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 110 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.7155 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaAugust 16, 1995 · 97 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 28 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 18 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1983M6.4
Ulawun, Rabaul
22 Dec 1983 · 300 km away · intensity V
10 deaths$25 million damage
- 1939M7.7
Bougainville Island
30 Jan 1939 · 132 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1971M7.9
New Ireland: Bougainville
14 Jul 1971 · 136 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1975M7.9
Bismarck Sea: Bougainville
20 Jul 1975 · 88 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1959M7.3
Solomon Islands
17 Aug 1959 · 213 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1971M8.1
Bismarck Sea Rabaul
26 Jul 1971 · 233 km away · intensity VI
$1 million damagetsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.