Moderate mag. 5.0 earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 41 km west of Green Island, Papua New Guinea, on Wednesday, 20 Jan 2021 7:54 pm (GMT +11) -
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Moderate magnitude 5.0 earthquake at 492 km depth
20 Jan 09:03 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 9 minutes.
20 Jan 10:38: Magnitude recalculated from 4.8 to 5.0. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 514.0 to 496.0 km (from 319 to 308 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 11 km (7 mi) towards WSW.
20 Jan 14:24: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 496.0 to 492.0 km (from 308 to 306 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 2.5 km (1.5 mi) towards WNW.
20 Jan 10:38: Magnitude recalculated from 4.8 to 5.0. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 514.0 to 496.0 km (from 319 to 308 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 11 km (7 mi) towards WSW.
20 Jan 14:24: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 496.0 to 492.0 km (from 308 to 306 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 2.5 km (1.5 mi) towards WNW.
Date & time: 20 Jan 2021 08:54:50 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Wednesday, 20 Jan 2021 7:54 pm (GMT +11)
Magnitude: 5
Depth: 492.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 4.71°S / 154.94°E

Nearest volcano: Tore (127 km / 79 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
183 km (114 mi) NNW of Arawa (pop: 40,300) --> See nearby quakes!
189 km (117 mi) NNW of Panguna (pop: 2,920) --> See nearby quakes!
242 km (150 mi) NNW of Buin (pop: 750) --> See nearby quakes!
299 km (186 mi) E of Kokopo (pop: 26,300) --> See nearby quakes!
313 km (195 mi) E of Rabaul (pop: 8,070) --> See nearby quakes!
432 km (268 mi) NNW of Gizo (New Georgia Group, Solomon Islands) (pop: 6,150) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Overcast Clouds
28.9°C (84 F), humidity: 70%, wind: 5 m/s (10 kts) from NE
Primary data source: GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)Overcast Clouds

Estimated released energy: 2 x 1012 joules (554 megawatt hours, equivalent to 477 tons of TNT) More info
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.
Magnitude | Depth | Location | Source |
M 5.0 | 492 km | Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea | GFZ |
M 4.8 | 499 km | BOUGAINVILLE REGION, P.N.G., Papua New Guinea | EMSC |
M 5.2 | 505 km | Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea | BMKG |
M 4.8 | 497 km | 175 Km NNW of Arawa, Papua New Guinea | USGS |
M 5.0 | 493 km | Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea | GeoAu |
User reports for this quake
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
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So far, no aftershocks have been registered.
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Recorded aftershocks, latest first (0 quakes):So far, no aftershocks have been registered.
Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900
- Date / time UTC| Mag |Depth|Age|Distance| Details
- 26 Jul 1971 01:23| 8.1 |40km / 25mi|50 years ago|196km / 122mi| South Pacific Ocean, 36 km E of Lambom Island, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
- 14 Jul 1971 06:11| 8.0 |40km / 25mi|50 years ago|151km / 94mi| Solomon Sea, 219 km SE of Kokopo, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea
- 22 Jan 2017 04:30| 7.9 |172km / 107mi|4 years ago|167km / 104mi| 63 km W of Arawa, North Solomons, Papua New Guinea
- 17 Dec 2016 10:51| 7.9 |93km / 58mi|4 years ago|165km / 103mi| South Pacific Ocean, 52 km S of Saint John's Island, Papua New Guinea
- 20 Jul 1975 14:37| 7.9 |49km / 30mi|46 years ago|209km / 130mi| Solomon Sea, 38 km S of Torokina Islet Island, North Solomons, Papua New Guinea
- 16 Nov 2000 07:42| 7.8 |30km / 19mi|20 years ago|212km / 132mi| Solomon Sea, 135 km SE of Kokopo, East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea
- 29 Sep 1946 03:02| 7.8 |50km / 31mi|74 years ago|180km / 112mi| Solomon Sea, 72 km SE of Lambom Island, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
- 06 May 1919 19:41| 7.8 |35km / 22mi|102 years ago|137km / 85mi| South Pacific Ocean, 170 km E of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
- 16 Aug 1995 10:27| 7.7 |30km / 19mi|26 years ago|148km / 92mi| Solomon Sea, 59 km SW of Tanwoa Island, North Solomons, Papua New Guinea
- 09 Sep 2005 07:26| 7.6 |90km / 56mi|15 years ago|164km / 102mi| South Pacific Ocean, 135 km E of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
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