M6.0 earthquake 183 km NW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea

Thursday, December 21, 2000, 02:41:23 UTC · 5.354°S, 154.133°E

A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck 183 km NW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on Thursday, December 21, 2000, 02:41:23 UTC, at a depth of 386.7 km (deep). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.5 on December 6, 2000.

Magnitude: 6.0; Strong · mwc
Depth: 387 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

15 kilotons of TNT

That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 32 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

56 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

387 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 100 km

USGS lists 9 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.1 on December 28, 2000. 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 1,829 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 40 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 534 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1937
Keravia, Rabaul, Kokopo
28 May 1937 · 245 km away · intensity VIII
507 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1983M6.4
Ulawun, Rabaul
22 Dec 1983 · 251 km away · intensity V
10 deaths$25 million damage
1939M7.7
Bougainville Island
30 Jan 1939 · 237 km away
5 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1941M7.4
Bismarck Sea
13 Jan 1941 · 263 km away
4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1971M7.9
New Ireland: Bougainville
14 Jul 1971 · 30 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
2000M8.0
New Ireland, Duke Of York
16 Nov 2000 · 250 km away
2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers