Moderate mag. 5.4 earthquake - Solomon Sea, 84 km west of Arawa, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, on Saturday, Nov 27, 2021 2:45 pm (GMT +11) -

An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 occurred early afternoon on Saturday, November 27th, 2021, at 2:45 pm local time near Arawa, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, as reported by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).
According to preliminary data, the quake was located at a shallow depth of 10 km. Shallow earthquakes are felt more strongly than deeper ones as they are closer to the surface. 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 France's Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS) which listed the quake at magnitude 5.2. A third agency, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), reported the same quake at magnitude 5.5.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Panguna (pop. 2,900) located 88 km from the epicenter, Arawa (pop. 40,300) 97 km away, Kieta (pop. 3,600) 104 km away, and Buin (pop. 750) 125 km away.
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.

Date & time: Nov 27, 2021 03:45:51 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Saturday, Nov 27, 2021 2:45 pm (GMT +11)
Magnitude: 5.4
Depth: 51.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 6.3019°S / 154.8132°E (Solomon Sea, Papua New Guinea)
Antipode: 6.302°N / 25.187°W
Nearest volcano: Balbi (46 km / 29 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
74 km (46 mi) W of Panguna (pop: 2,920) --> See nearby quakes!
84 km (52 mi) W of Arawa (pop: 40,300) --> See nearby quakes!
109 km (68 mi) WNW of Buin (pop: 750) --> See nearby quakes!
300 km (187 mi) NW of Gizo (New Georgia Group, Solomon Islands) (pop: 6,150) --> See nearby quakes!
356 km (221 mi) SE of Kokopo (pop: 26,300) --> See nearby quakes!
375 km (233 mi) SE of Rabaul (pop: 8,070) --> See nearby quakes!
915 km (569 mi) ENE of Port Moresby (pop: 283,700) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 7.9 x 10¹² joules (2.21 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 1898 tons of TNT or 0.1 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy

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Based on its magnitude, the fault that was active during the quake ruptured along a surface of approx. 25 km² (=10 sqare miles) as a first-order estimate. The length of the rupture zone thus was probably around 9 km (5 mi).
Aftershocks typically occur during the days and weeks following the quake at or near the same fault, at distances of up to approx. two times the length of the rupture zone.
The often broadly linear arrangement of aftershock epicenters encompasses the rupture zone of the main shock (check on the map below to verify).

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