Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea30y ago
M3.9 earthquake 211 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
Thursday, June 13, 1996, 11:37:51 UTC · 7.033°S, 153.713°E
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck 211 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Thursday, June 13, 1996, 11:37:51 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
80 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
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 1,372 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 · 248 km N of this epicenter
- 8.11971 Bougainville EarthquakeJuly 26, 1971 · 248 km N of this epicenter
- 8.01971 New Britain EarthquakeJuly 14, 1971 · 175 km N of this epicenter
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 280 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.956 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 156 km E of this epicenter
- 7.885 km S of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJanuary 30, 1939 · 185 km E of this epicenter
- 7.874 km SSW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaFebruary 2, 1920 · 297 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.794 km SSW of Panguna, Papua New GuineaJuly 20, 1975 · 159 km E 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 19 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1983M6.4
Ulawun, Rabaul
22 Dec 1983 · 274 km away · intensity V
10 deaths$25 million damage
- 1939M7.7
Bougainville Island
30 Jan 1939 · 185 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1971M7.9
New Ireland: Bougainville
14 Jul 1971 · 172 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 1996M7.2
Bougainville Island
29 Apr 1996 · 153 km away
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1975M7.9
Bismarck Sea: Bougainville
20 Jul 1975 · 156 km away · intensity VIII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1959M7.3
Solomon Islands
17 Aug 1959 · 258 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.