Major magnitude 7.4 earthquake - Latangai Island, New Ireland, 67 km east of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea, on Thursday, April 23, 1953 at 16:24 GMT
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Major magnitude 7.4 earthquake at 35 km depth
Earthquake details
| Date & time | Apr 23, 1953 16:24:33 UTC |
| Local time at epicenter | |
| Status | Confirmed |
| Magnitude | 7.4 |
| Depth | 35.0 km |
| Epicenter latitude / longitude | 4.449°S / 152.868°E  (New Ireland, Papua New Guinea) |
| Antipode | 4.449°N / 27.132°W |
| Shaking intensity | Very strong shaking near epicenter |
| Felt | 0 reports |
| Primary data source | USGS (United States Geological Survey) |
| Nearest volcano | Rabaul (Tavurvur) (76 km / 47 mi) |
| Nearby towns and cities | 67 km (42 mi) E of Kokopo (East New Britain) (pop: 26,300) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 83 km (52 mi) ESE of Rabaul (East New Britain) (pop: 8,070) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 311 km (193 mi) SE of Kavieng (pop: 14,500) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 326 km (203 mi) ENE of Kimbe (Talasea District, West New Britain) (pop: 18,800) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 357 km (222 mi) NW of Panguna (Bougainville) (pop: 2,920) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 358 km (223 mi) WNW of Arawa (Bougainville) (pop: 40,300) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 404 km (251 mi) NW of Buin (Bougainville) (pop: 750) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 416 km (259 mi) ENE of Kandrian (West New Britain) (pop: 1,010) | Show on map | Quakes nearby 843 km (524 mi) NE of Port Moresby (National Capital) (pop: 283,700) | Show on map | Quakes nearby |
| Estimated seismic energy released | 7.9 x 1015 joules (2206 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 1.9 x 106 tons of TNT or 118.7 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 |
| 7.4 | 35 km | New Britain region, Papua New Guinea | USGS |
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 (7 quakes)
Date and time | Mag Depth | Location | Details |
| Dec 28, 1954 01:00 68 years ago | 6.3 35 km | 27 km NE of Lamassa Island, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea | More |
| Dec 4, 1954 07:00 68 years ago | 6.3 35 km | Wallis Island, 93 km SE of Kokopo, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea | More |
| Jul 13, 1954 08:04 68 years ago | 6.2 15 km | 57 km SW of Sandwich Island, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea | More |
| May 19, 1954 23:07 68 years ago | 6.2 35 km | 97 km S of Kokopo, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea | More |
| Feb 5, 1954 09:19 69 years ago | 6.7 35 km | 47 km SE of Latangai Island, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea | More |
| Oct 6, 1953 21:38 69 years ago | 6.6 20 km | 184 km NW of Kokopo, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea | More |
| Aug 25, 1953 02:04 69 years ago | 6.3 30 km | 53 km SW of Wallis Island, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea | More |
Earlier earthquakes in the same area
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