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Light mag. 4.3 earthquake - Coral Sea, 85 km east of Daru, Western Province, Papua New Guinea, on Saturday, Mar 20, 2021 at 4:01 am (GMT +10)

Light magnitude 4.3 earthquake at 599 km depth

19 Mar 18:10 UTC: First to report: BMKG after 8 minutes.

Update Fri, 19 Mar 2021, 18:15

Moderate earthquake of magnitude 4.3 just reported 85 km east of Daru, Papua New Guinea

4.3 quake 20 Mar 4:01 am (GMT +10)

A very deep magnitude 4.3 earthquake was reported early morning near Daru, Western Province, Papua New Guinea.
According to Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency, the quake hit on Saturday 20 March 2021 at 4:01 am local time at a great depth of 599 km. 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.
A second report was later issued by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which listed it as a magnitude 4.3 earthquake as well.
According to preliminary calculations, we do not expect that the quake was felt by many people and did not cause any damage. In Daru (pop. 15,200, 85 km away), the quake was probably not felt.
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 & time	Mar 19, 2021 18:01:45 UTC
Local time at epicenter	Saturday, Mar 20, 2021 at 4:01 am (GMT +10)
Status	Confirmed
Magnitude	4.3
Depth	599.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude	9.15°S / 143.98°E (Coral Sea, Papua New Guinea)
Antipode	9.15°N / 36.02°W
Shaking intensity	Not felt
Felt
Primary data source	BMKG (Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia)
Nearest volcano	###NEARESTVOLCANO2###
Nearby towns and cities	85 km (53 mi) E of Daru (pop: 15,200) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 237 km (148 mi) SW of Kerema (pop: 5,650) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 250 km (155 mi) NE of Thursday Island (Australia) (pop: 2,990) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 350 km (217 mi) W of Port Moresby (pop: 283,700) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby
Weather at epicenter at time of quake	Broken Clouds 27.9°C (82 F), humidity: 74%, wind: 4 m/s (7 kts) from ESE
Estimated seismic energy released	1.8 x 10¹¹ joules (49.4 megawatt hours, equivalent to 42.5 tons of TNT) \| about seismic energy

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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.	Depth	Location	Source
4.3	599 km	Near S. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea	BMKG
4.3	599 km	NEAR S COAST OF NEW GUINEA, PNG., Papua New Guinea	EMSC

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Seismograms

Seismic station: Port Moresby, New Guinea (PMG/IU network) | Distance from quake: 350 km / 218 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Port Moresby, New Guinea: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.2-10.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

User reports for this quake (1)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.

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near Lae, Morobe (425.1 km NE of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vibration and rolling / 20-30 s

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