M4.3 earthquake 117 km NNW of Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea

Wednesday, January 14, 1998, 18:43:30 UTC · 5.582°S, 147.434°E

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 117 km NNW of Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea on Wednesday, January 14, 1998, 18:43:30 UTC, at a depth of 169.8 km (intermediate).

Magnitude: 4.3; Light · mb
Depth: 170 km; Intermediate
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

136 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: intermediate

170 km

Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.

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 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.6 on January 19, 1998. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 937 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 24 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 155 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1988M4.3
Kaiapit (Landslide Generated)
6 Sep 1988 · 143 km away
74 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1993M6.9
Eastern: Upper Markham Valley
13 Oct 1993 · 160 km away
60 deaths$5 million damage
1970M7.3
Madang
31 Oct 1970 · 230 km away · intensity VIII
18 deaths$2 million damagetsunami
1987M7.6
Huon Peninsula, Umboi Island
8 Feb 1987 · 63 km away · intensity VII
3 deaths$3 million damagetsunami
1906M8.0
New Britain
14 Sep 1906 · 234 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1857M8.0
Bismarck Sea
17 Apr 1857 · 49 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers