Earthquakes in Papua New Guinea through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 1,008 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Papua New Guinea. 110 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 8.2 on May 6, 1919 (1919 Papua New Guinea Earthquake).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 35 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 5 on October 22 (153 km S of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea). The strongest: magnitude 6.2 on October 11 (86 km SSE of Panguna, 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 116 here, back to 4001 BCE. NOAA records deaths in 43 of the events here, 7,646 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.9 on March 23, 2024 (36 km ENE of Ambunti, Papua New Guinea). NOAA’s record here begins in 4001 BCE with an eruption (Witori). It grows thinner going back: 86 of the 116 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here are from 1927 on. NOAA lists 76 tsunamis that began in or off Papua New Guinea, and 6 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 15.03 m, on July 17, 1998. The deadliest, on July 17, 1998, killed 2,205 people here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists 43 significant eruptions of 17 volcanoes in or off Papua New Guinea. The largest was Long Island in 1660, at 6 on the volcanic explosivity index. The deadliest was Lamington on January 21, 1951, which killed 2,942 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- March 23, 2024Earthquake · M 6.936 km ENE of Ambunti, Papua New Guinea · 5 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
- July 17, 1998Earthquake · M 7.050 km WNW of Aitape, Papua New Guinea · 1,636 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- July 17, 1998Tsunami · 15.03 m herePapua New Guinea · 2,205 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- July 26, 1971Earthquake · M 8.11971 Bougainville EarthquakeUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- July 14, 1971Earthquake · M 8.01971 New Britain Earthquake · 3 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 21, 1951Eruption · VEI 4Lamington · 2,942 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 6, 1919Earthquake · M 8.21919 Papua New Guinea EarthquakeUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- January 1, 1916Earthquake · M 8.060 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- September 14, 1906Earthquake · M 8.01906 Papua New Guinea EarthquakeUSGS
- 1660Eruption · VEI 6Long Island · 2,000 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- 4001 BCEEruption · VEI 6WitoriNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
Good to know
- An event counts for Papua New Guinea when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where Papua New Guinea is the nearest country.
- 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.
- The map frames the box around Papua New Guinea, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- 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