Very strong mag. 6.1 earthquake - Bismarck Sea, 233 km northeast of Madang, Papua New Guinea, on Wednesday, 21 July 2021 at 14:26 (GMT)
Very strong mag. 6.1 earthquake - Bismarck Sea, 233 km northeast of Madang, Papua New Guinea, on 22 Jul 12:26 am (GMT +10)
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Very strong magnitude 6.1 earthquake at 10 km depth
21 Jul 14:34 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 9 minutes.
21 Jul 14:36: Magnitude recalculated from 5.7 to 5.6. Epicenter location corrected by 3.1 km (2 mi) towards NE.
21 Jul 16:22: Magnitude recalculated from 5.6 to 6.1.
21 Jul 14:36: Magnitude recalculated from 5.7 to 5.6. Epicenter location corrected by 3.1 km (2 mi) towards NE.
21 Jul 16:22: Magnitude recalculated from 5.6 to 6.1.
Earthquake details
| Date & time | Jul 21, 2021 14:26:03 UTC - |
| Local time at epicenter | 22 Jul 12:26 am (GMT +10) |
| Status | Confirmed |
| Magnitude | 6.1 |
| Depth | 10.0 km |
| Epicenter latitude / longitude | 3.39°S / 146.81°E  (Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea) |
| Antipode | 3.39°N / 33.19°W |
| Shaking intensity | Strong shaking near epicenter |
| Felt | 0 reports |
| Primary data source | GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences) |
| Nearest volcano | Baluan (105 km / 65 mi) |
| Nearby towns and cities | 159 km (99 mi) SSW of Lorengau (Manus District) (pop: 5,810) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 233 km (145 mi) NNE of Madang (pop: 27,400) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 339 km (210 mi) NNE of Goroka (pop: 18,500) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 353 km (219 mi) E of Wewak (pop: 18,200) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 357 km (222 mi) NE of Kundiawa (pop: 9,380) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 371 km (231 mi) N of Lae (pop: 76,300) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 396 km (246 mi) NE of Hagen (Dei District) (pop: 33,600) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 440 km (274 mi) WNW of Kimbe (Talasea District) (pop: 18,800) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 465 km (289 mi) NE of Mendi (pop: 26,300) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 678 km (421 mi) N of Port Moresby (pop: 283,700) | Show on map | Quakes nearby |
| Weather at epicenter at time of quake | Overcast Clouds  28.4°C (83 F), humidity: 74%, wind: 4 m/s (7 kts) from E |
| Estimated seismic energy released | 8.9 x 1013 joules (24.8 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 21301 tons of TNT or 1.3 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy |
Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies
Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
| Mag. | Depth | Location | Source |
| 6.1 | 10 km | Papua New Guinea: Bismarck Sea | GFZ |
| 5.9 | 10 km | Papua New Guinea: BISMARCK SEA | EMSC |
| 5.5 | 10 km | Papua New Guinea: Near Lae | RENASS |
| 5.7 | 10 km | Papua New Guinea: Bismarck Sea | BMKG |
| 6.0 | 8.7 km | 150 Km SSW of Lorengau, Papua New Guinea | USGS |
| 6.1 | 10 km | Papua New Guinea: Bismarck Sea | GeoAu |
User reports for this quake
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Aftershocks
[More info]
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (2 quakes)
Date and time | Mag Depth | Location | Details |
| Sep 14, 2021 03:54 47 weeks ago | 4.4 48 km | Bismarck Sea, 214 km NE of Madang, Papua New Guinea | More |
| Jul 21, 2021 23:07 1 year 3 weeks ago | 4.8 10 km | Bismarck Sea, 250 km NE of Madang, Papua New Guinea | More |
Earlier earthquakes in the same area
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