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Moderate mag. 5.9 earthquake - 93 km northwest of Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, on Saturday, Feb 4, 2023 at 10:22 pm (GMT +10) -

Moderate mag. 5.9 earthquake - 93 km northwest of Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, on Saturday, Feb 4, 2023 at 10:22 pm (GMT +10) Moderate mag. 5.9 earthquake - 93 km northwest of Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, on Saturday, Feb 4, 2023 at 10:22 pm (GMT +10)

Moderate magnitude 5.9 earthquake at 112 km depth

4 Feb 12:30 UTC: First to report: VolcanoDiscovery after 8 minutes.
4 Feb 12:30: Now using data updates from GFZ
... [show all] ...
5 Feb 12:10: Magnitude recalculated from 5.7 to 5.9. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 101.9 to 111.8 km (from 63 to 69 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 4 km (2.5 mi) towards E.
Update Sat, 4 Feb 2023, 12:48

Moderate yet deep magnitude 5.7 quake hits 97 km northwest of Lae, Papua New Guinea late at night

5.7 quake 4 Feb 10:22 pm (GMT +10)
5.7 quake 4 Feb 10:22 pm (GMT +10)
Papua New Guinea was shaken near Lae, Morobe Province, by an earthquake of magnitude 5.7 only 25 minutes ago, the United States Geological Survey reported.
The quake hit at an intermediate depth of 101.9 km beneath the epicenter near Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, late at night on Saturday, February 4th, 2023, at 10:22 pm local time. The strength of the earthquake may have been tempered by its relative great depth below the surface, which makes it feel weaker in absolute terms. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from The Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) which listed the quake at magnitude 5.7 as well. Other agencies reporting the same quake include Geoscience Australia (GeoAu) at magnitude 6.0, Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) at magnitude 6.0, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 5.9, France's Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS) at magnitude 5.7, the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 5.7, and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 5.9.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Kainantu (pop. 8,500) located 37 km from the epicenter, Goroka (pop. 18,500) 95 km away, Lae (pop. 76,300) 97 km away, Bulolo (pop. 16,000) 104 km away, Wau (pop. 14,600) 121 km away, Madang (pop. 27,400) 137 km away, and Kundiawa (pop. 9,400) 141 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

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Earthquake details

Date & timeFeb 4, 2023 12:22:37 UTC -
Local time at epicenterSaturday, Feb 4, 2023 at 10:22 pm (GMT +10)
StatusConfirmed
Magnitude5.9
Depth111.8 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude6.3817°S / 146.2246°E (Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea)
Antipode6.382°N / 33.775°W
Shaking intensityLight shaking
Felt23 reports
Primary data sourceUSGS (United States Geological Survey)
Nearest volcanoYelia (85 km / 53 mi)
Nearby towns and cities41 km (25 mi) ESE of Kainantu (Eastern Highlands) (pop: 8,510) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
93 km (58 mi) WNW of Lae (Morobe) (pop: 76,300) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
98 km (61 mi) ESE of Goroka (Eastern Highlands) (pop: 18,500) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
102 km (64 mi) NNW of Bulolo (Morobe) (pop: 16,000) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
119 km (74 mi) NNW of Wau (Morobe) (pop: 14,600) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
138 km (86 mi) SSE of Madang (pop: 27,400) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
228 km (142 mi) ESE of Hagen (Dei District, Western Highlands) (pop: 33,600) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
359 km (223 mi) NNW of Port Moresby (National Capital) (pop: 283,700) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
Weather at epicenter at time of quakeOvercast Clouds 23.2°C (74 F), humidity: 91%, wind: 1 m/s (1 kts) from W
Estimated seismic energy released4.5 x 1013 joules (12.4 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 10676 tons of TNT or 0.7 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy
Show interactive Map
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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.DepthLocationSource
5.9112 km41 Km ESE of Kainantu, Papua New GuineaUSGS
5.9100 kmPapua New Guinea: EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG., P.N.G.EMSC
5.9112 kmPapua New Guinea: Eastern New Guinea Reg., P.N.G.RaspberryShake
5.7103 kmPapua New Guinea: Near Port MoresbyRENASS
5.9105 kmPapua New Guinea RegionGFZ
6.0109 kmPapua New Guinea [Land]INGV
5.9107 kmPapua New Guinea: Eastern New Guinea Reg., P.N.G.GeoAu
5.710 kmPapua New Guinea: Eastern New Guinea Reg., P.N.G.IRIS

User reports for this quake (24)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
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Goroka Papua New Guinea (107.3 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) : In house. Later about 1 minute, 2 shaking episodes followed by longer rolling and shifting: where house creaked, cracked, doors slammed, things unsteady and rocking significantly. No damage. | 4 users found this interesting.  
Png lae city (93.6 km ESE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) : Just sitting and felt it; ground level | 5 users found this interesting.  
Lae (92.7 km ESE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 10-15 s : I was standing indoors, saw objects moving and felt like I was swaying. | 4 users found this interesting.  
Papua New Guinea (98.5 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / rattling, vibrating / 5-10 s : It made my body shake after it happened. | 3 users found this interesting.  
LAE PAPUA NEW GUINEA (81.7 km ESE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 20-30 s : WAS SITTING ON THE FLOOR IN THE LIVING ROOM AND FELT THE FLOOR VIBRATING AND MOVING | 3 users found this interesting.  
Lae morobe province PNG (94.9 km ESE of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) : Just a small movement felt while indoor watching movies | 2 users found this interesting.  
Madang png (140.7 km NNW of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single lateral shake / 5-10 s : Little shaky | 2 users found this interesting.  
Goroka, Papua New Guinea (101.5 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / 20-30 s : Strong one | 2 users found this interesting.  
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (364.1 km SSE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 1-2 minutes : House moving | 2 users found this interesting.  
Port Moresby (357.5 km SSE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 1-2 s : Laying in bed and it swayed for about 2 seconds | 2 users found this interesting.  
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (359 km SSE of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) : Moved bed slightly, 8th floor up | 2 users found this interesting.  
Lae, Morobe (89.1 km ESE of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) : Shake that move a parking vehicle side to side. | 2 users found this interesting.  
port moresby (356 km SSE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 2-5 s
Lae (89.2 km ESE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / rattling, vibrating / 20-30 s : Light movement for approximately 20 seconds  
Madang (137.6 km NNW of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 10-15 s
crossroads, 9 Mile, Lae. / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 5-10 s : Moderate shaking  
Lae Top Town 2nd Street / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / complex motion difficult to describe / 30-60 s : Continued shaking and jolting for around one minute  
Orobiga, Kamayufa, Goroka / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vertical swinging (up and down) / 15-20 s (reported through our app)
Mount Hagen / Weak shaking (MMI III) / 5-10 s
Port Moresby / not felt (reported through our app)
Port Moresby / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single vertical bump / 1-2 s
Ukarumpa / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / both vertical and horizontal swinging / 15-20 s
Lae / Weak shaking (MMI III) / single lateral shake / 2-5 s (reported through our app)
Goroka (114.9 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / 10-15 s
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Aftershocks

[More info]

Recorded aftershocks, latest first (1 quake)

Date and timeMag
Depth
LocationDetails
Mar 2, 2023 01:30
3 weeks ago
4.9

106 km
Madang Province, 68 km NE of Kainantu, Papua New GuineaMore

Earlier earthquakes in the same area

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