Earthquakes in Papua New Guinea, 2017–2026
From 2017 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 3,758 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in or off Papua New Guinea. 8 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.9 on January 22, 2017 (35 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 31 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 4.9 on October 19 (52 km S of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea). The strongest: magnitude 6.2 on October 11 (79 km SSE of Panguna, Papua New Guinea).
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 7.5 on February 25, 2018 (32 km SW of Tari, Papua New Guinea), for which NOAA records 145 deaths. 15 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 10 of the events here, 224 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 lists 4 tsunamis that began in or off Papua New Guinea. The highest water NOAA records here was 1 m, on February 9, 2018. NOAA lists 7 significant eruptions of 4 volcanoes in or off Papua New Guinea. The largest was Manam on August 25, 2018, at 4 on the volcanic explosivity index.
The events
- March 23, 2024Earthquake · M 6.936 km ENE of Ambunti, Papua New Guinea · 5 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
- September 10, 2022Earthquake · M 7.670 km E of Kainantu, Papua New Guinea · 21 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 14, 2019Earthquake · M 7.648 km NE of Kokopo, Papua New GuineaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- May 6, 2019Earthquake · M 7.132 km NW of Bulolo, Papua New GuineaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- August 25, 2018Eruption · VEI 4ManamNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 6, 2018Earthquake · M 6.762 km SW of Tari, Papua New Guinea · 25 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI
- February 25, 2018Earthquake · M 7.532 km SW of Tari, Papua New Guinea · 145 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 9, 2018Tsunami · 1 m hereKadovar Island, Papua New GuineaNOAA NCEI
- January 5, 2018Eruption · VEI 2KadovarNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- January 22, 2017Earthquake · M 7.935 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea · 3 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA 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 are its ComCat catalogue’s earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more, aftershocks included.
- 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