Earthquakes near Jayapura through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 19 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Jayapura, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 8 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.8 on September 20, 1935 (New Guinea, Papua New Guinea).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded one earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Jayapura in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 4.7 on October 10 (32 km SE of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea).
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7 on July 17, 1998 (50 km WNW of Aitape, Papua New Guinea), for which NOAA records 1,636 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 7 here, back to 1907. NOAA records deaths in 2 of the events here, 5 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 5.1 on February 9, 2023 (8 km W of Abepura, Indonesia). NOAA’s record here begins on July 29, 1917 with an earthquake (93 km SW of Aitape, Papua New Guinea). 2 of the 7 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 2 tsunamis from elsewhere that reached the coast within 100 km of Jayapura with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 3.09 m, on July 17, 1998. The deadliest here came on March 11, 2011 from a magnitude 9.1 earthquake (Honshu Island): NOAA’s runup records count one death within 100 km of Jayapura.
The events
- February 9, 2023Earthquake · M 5.18 km W of Abepura, Indonesia · 4 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
- March 11, 2011Tsunami · 2.8 m hereHonshu Island · one death here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- July 17, 1998Earthquake · M 7.050 km WNW of Aitape, Papua New Guinea · 1,636 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- July 17, 1998Tsunami · 3.09 m herePapua New GuineaNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 10, 1971Earthquake · M 7.7120 km SW of Abepura, IndonesiaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- September 20, 1935Earthquake · M 7.8New Guinea, Papua New GuineaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- July 29, 1917Earthquake · M 7.593 km SW of Aitape, Papua New GuineaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Jayapura when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
- USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
- NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
- Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
- A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
- Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history