Strong mag. 6.5 earthquake - New Britain Region, Papua New Guinea, on Thursday, 11 September 1986 at 00:18 (GMT)

Strong mag. 6.5 earthquake - New Britain Region, Papua New Guinea, on Thursday, 11 September 1986 at 00:18 (GMT)

Strong magnitude 6.5 earthquake at 51 km depth

Date & time: 11 Sep 1986 00:18:25 UTC
Magnitude: 6.5
Depth: 51.2 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 5.187°S / 152.442°E (Papua New Guinea)
Nearest volcano: Rabaul (Tavurvur) (105 km / 65 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
754 km (468 mi) NE of Port Moresby (pop: 283,700) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 3.5 x 1014 joules (98.6 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 84802 tons of TNT or 5.3 atomic bombs!) More info
[smaller] [bigger]
If you felt this quake (or if you were near the epicenter), please share your experience and submit a short "I felt it" report! Other users would love to hear about it!
Also if you did NOT feel the quake although you were in the area, please report it! Your contribution is valuable also to earthquake science and earthquake hazard analysis and mitigation efforts. You can use your device location or the map to indicate where you were during the earthquake. Thank you!

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.
MagnitudeDepthLocationSource
M 6.551 kmNew Britain region, Papua New GuineaUSGS
Note: for quakes of 2012 and earlier, our database often contains only records from USGS.

User reports for this quake

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
There are no user reports for this quake yet. If you felt it be the first to report it!
Volcanoes & Earthquakes - new app for Android
to top
to top

Aftershocks of the 6.5 quake New Britain Region, Papua New Guinea, 11 September 1986 00:18 GMT

More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (34 quakes):
  • 05 Mar 1987 05:50 UTC
    | M 3.9 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    29 km (18 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 15 Feb 1987 11:21 UTC
    | M 4.0 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    74 km (46 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 15 Feb 1987 09:57 UTC
    | M 4.8 |
    14.3 km (8.9 mi) depth
    |
    75 km (47 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 15 Feb 1987 06:45 UTC
    | M 4.9 |
    51.5 km (32 mi) depth
    |
    71 km (44 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 14 Feb 1987 22:50 UTC
    | M 4.6 |
    70 km (43.5 mi) depth
    |
    58 km (36 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 08 Feb 1987 23:45 UTC
    | M 3.9 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    92 km (57 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 04 Feb 1987 06:12 UTC
    | M 5.3 |
    29.2 km (18.1 mi) depth
    |
    48 km (30 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 04 Feb 1987 05:45 UTC
    | M 3.8 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    42 km (26 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 04 Feb 1987 04:56 UTC
    | M 4.8 |
    33.4 km (20.8 mi) depth
    |
    51 km (32 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 03 Feb 1987 22:52 UTC
    | M 4.8 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    37 km (23 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 23 Jan 1987 10:24 UTC
    | M 4.5 |
    43.8 km (27.2 mi) depth
    |
    25 km (16 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 08 Jan 1987 20:47 UTC
    | M 4.4 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    93 km (58 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 08 Jan 1987 19:48 UTC
    | M 5.4 |
    43.7 km (27.2 mi) depth
    |
    89 km (55 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 07 Jan 1987 05:30 UTC
    | M 5.0 |
    57.7 km (35.9 mi) depth
    |
    19 km (12 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 01 Jan 1987 06:07 UTC
    | M 5.1 |
    56.2 km (34.9 mi) depth
    |
    88 km (55 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
  • 07 Dec 1986 14:14 UTC
    | M 4.5 |
    33 km (20.5 mi) depth
    |
    48 km (30 mi) distance
    | USGS | Details
    • Show all

to top

Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900

Strong mag. 6.5 earthquake - New Britain Region, Papua New Guinea, on Thursday, 11 September 1986 at 00:18 (GMT)

Map of earlier quakes

Volcanoes & Earthquakes - new app for Android
to top
Why is there advertising on this site?

Support us - Help us upgrade our server!

We truly love working to bring you the latest volcano and earthquake data from around the world. Maintaining our website and our free apps does require, however, considerable time and resources.
Our server is reaching its limits and we need financing to increase capacity in order to deal with huge activity peaks when quakes occur. We're aiming to achieve uninterrupted service wherever an earthquake or volcano eruption unfolds, and your donations can make it happen! Every penny counts and every donation will be highly appreciated. If you find the information useful and would like to support our team in integrating further features and in upgrading our software, please make a donation (PayPal or Online cc payment).

Planned features:
  • Weather reports
  • Tsunami alerts
  • Design upgrades
  • Faster responsiveness
Thanks to your past donations, these features have been added recently:
  • Earthquake archive from 1900 onwards
  • Additional seismic data sources
  • Improved content in English
Download and Upgrade the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online:
Android | IOS
Thank you! With best regards from the VolcanoDiscovery team.
Copyrights: VolcanoDiscovery and other sources as noted.
Use of material: Most texts and images, in particular photographs, on this website are protected by copyright. Further reproduction and use of without authorization is usually not consented. If you are not sure or need licensing rights for photographs, for example for publications and commercial use, please contact us.