Reviewed by USGSPapua New Guinea25y ago
M4.3 earthquake 70 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
Friday, November 30, 2001, 09:55:49 UTC · 4.575°S, 152.857°E
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 70 km ESE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea on Friday, November 30, 2001, 09:55:49 UTC, at a depth of 90.4 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 90 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
5 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North Bismarck and South Bismarck plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
90 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.0 on December 26, 2001. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,711 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 · 114 km E of this epicenter
- 8.11971 Bougainville EarthquakeJuly 26, 1971 · 49 km SE of this epicenter
- 8.01971 New Britain EarthquakeJuly 14, 1971 · 149 km SE of this epicenter
- 8.02000 New Ireland EarthquakeNovember 16, 2000 · 101 km NW of this epicenter
- 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaJanuary 1, 1916 · 33 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.874 km SSW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaFebruary 2, 1920 · 103 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.8138 km SSW of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaNovember 17, 2000 · 157 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.8135 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaNovember 16, 2000 · 78 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 38 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 529 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1937
Keravia, Rabaul, Kokopo
28 May 1937 · 80 km away · intensity VIII
507 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1983M6.4
Ulawun, Rabaul
22 Dec 1983 · 142 km away · intensity V
10 deaths$25 million damage
- 1941M7.4
Bismarck Sea
13 Jan 1941 · 98 km away
4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1971M7.9
New Ireland: Bougainville
14 Jul 1971 · 155 km away · intensity IX
3 deathsUnder $1 million damagetsunami
- 2000M8.0
New Ireland, Duke Of York
16 Nov 2000 · 87 km away
2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1985M7.1
New Britain: Bialla, Piona
10 May 1985 · 231 km away · intensity VIII
1 death$1 million damage
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.