Strong mag. 5.9 earthquake - 81 km northeast of Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, on Saturday, 23 Jan 2021 1:19 pm (GMT +10) -

Strong mag. 5.9 earthquake - 81 km northeast of Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, on Saturday, 23 Jan 2021 1:19 pm (GMT +10)

Strong magnitude 5.9 earthquake at 27 km depth

23 Jan 03:27 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 8 minutes.
23 Jan 03:29: Epicenter location corrected by 3.3 km (2.1 mi) towards N.
23 Jan 07:28: Magnitude recalculated from 5.7 to 5.8. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 10.0 to 27.0 km (from 6.2 to 16.8 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 9 km (5.6 mi) towards N.
23 Jan 07:36: Magnitude recalculated from 5.8 to 5.9.
Update Sat, 23 Jan 2021, 03:33
Significant magnitude 5.7 earthquake 75 km northeast of Lae, Papua New Guinea
5.7 quake 23 Jan 1:19 pm (GMT +10)
5.7 quake 23 Jan 1:19 pm (GMT +10)
An earthquake of magnitude 5.7 occurred only 13 minutes ago 75 km northeast of Lae, Papua New Guinea, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) reported.
The quake hit at a shallow depth of 10 km beneath the epicenter near Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, around noon on Saturday 23 January 2021 at 1:19 pm local time. 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 Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) which listed the quake at magnitude 5.7 as well. A third agency, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), reported the same quake at magnitude 5.7.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc.
In Lae (pop. 76,300) located 75 km from the epicenter, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Bulolo (pop. 16,000) located 138 km from the epicenter.
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 data:

Date & time: 23 Jan 2021 03:19:51 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Saturday, 23 Jan 2021 1:19 pm (GMT +10)
Magnitude: 5.9
Depth: 27.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 6.3°S / 147.59°E (Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea)
Nearest volcano: Umboi (94 km / 58 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
81 km (50 mi) NE of Lae (Morobe) (pop: 76,300) --> See nearby quakes!
145 km (90 mi) NE of Bulolo (Morobe) (pop: 16,000) --> See nearby quakes!
150 km (93 mi) NE of Wau (Morobe) (pop: 14,600) --> See nearby quakes!
233 km (145 mi) ESE of Madang (pop: 27,400) --> See nearby quakes!
245 km (152 mi) E of Goroka (Eastern Highlands) (pop: 18,500) --> See nearby quakes!
283 km (176 mi) NNW of Popondetta (Sohe, Northern Province) (pop: 28,200) --> See nearby quakes!
294 km (183 mi) WSW of Kimbe (Talasea District, West New Britain) (pop: 18,800) --> See nearby quakes!
357 km (222 mi) N of Port Moresby (National Capital) (pop: 283,700) --> See nearby quakes!
375 km (233 mi) E of Mt Hagen (Dei District, Western Highlands) (pop: 33,600) --> See nearby quakes!
435 km (270 mi) E of Mendi (Southern Highlands) (pop: 26,300) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Broken Clouds 21.8°C (71 F), humidity: 87%, wind: 1 m/s (2 kts) from ENE
Primary data source: GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
Estimated released energy: 4.5 x 1013 joules (12.4 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 10676 tons of TNT or 0.7 atomic bombs!) More info
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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.
MagnitudeDepthLocationSource
M 5.927 kmEastern New Guinea Reg., P.N.G., Papua New GuineaGFZ
M 5.740 kmEASTERN NEW GUINEA REG., P.N.G., Papua New GuineaEMSC
M 5.868 kmEastern New Guinea Reg., P.N.G., Papua New GuineaBMKG
M 5.729 km36 Km NW of Finschhafen, Papua New GuineaUSGS
M 5.855 kmEastern New Guinea Reg., P.N.G., Papua New GuineaGeoAu

User reports for this quake (2)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
146.9 km SW of epicenter [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 10-15 s
240.8 km W of epicenter [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / complex rolling (tilting in multiple directions) / 20-30 s (reported through our app)
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Aftershocks

More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (5 quakes):
  • 17 Feb 2021 12:29 UTC
    | M 5.1 |
    115 km (71.5 mi) depth
    |
    34 km (21 mi) distance
    | BMKG | Details
  • 17 Feb 2021 05:00 UTC
    | M 5.0 |
    91 km (56.5 mi) depth
    |
    38 km (23 mi) distance
    | GFZ | Details
  • 03 Feb 2021 16:49 UTC
    | M 5.3 |
    26 km (16.2 mi) depth
    |
    17 km (11 mi) distance
    | GFZ | Details
  • 23 Jan 2021 16:58 UTC
    | M 5.6 |
    45 km (28 mi) depth
    |
    16 km (10 mi) distance
    | GFZ | Details
  • 23 Jan 2021 08:34 UTC
    | M 5.4 |
    35 km (21.7 mi) depth
    |
    10 km (6 mi) distance
    | GFZ | Details

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Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900


Map of earlier quakes

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