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Light mag. 4.9 earthquake - 88 km northeast of Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, on Friday, Mar 17, 2023 at 8:47 pm (GMT +10) -

Light magnitude 4.9 earthquake at 62 km depth

17 Mar 10:53 UTC: First to report: VolcanoDiscovery after 6 minutes.
17 Mar 11:10: Now using data updates from USGS

Earthquake details

Date & time	Mar 17, 2023 10:47:51 UTC -
Local time at epicenter	Friday, Mar 17, 2023 at 8:47 pm (GMT +10)
Status	Confirmed
Magnitude	4.9
Depth	62.1 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude	6.1026°S / 147.4907°E (Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea)
Antipode	6.103°N / 32.509°W
Shaking intensity	Light shaking
Felt	1 report
Primary data source	USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Nearest volcano	Umboi (71 km / 44 mi)
Nearby towns and cities	154 km (96 mi) NE of Bulolo (Morobe) (pop: 16,000) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 162 km (101 mi) NNE of Wau (Morobe) (pop: 14,600) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 181 km (112 mi) E of Kainantu (Eastern Highlands) (pop: 8,510) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 213 km (132 mi) ESE of Madang (pop: 27,400) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 233 km (145 mi) E of Goroka (Eastern Highlands) (pop: 18,500) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 362 km (225 mi) E of Hagen (Dei District, Western Highlands) (pop: 33,600) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby 377 km (234 mi) N of Port Moresby (National Capital) (pop: 283,700) \| Show on map \| Quakes nearby
Weather at epicenter at time of quake	Overcast Clouds 20.7°C (69 F), humidity: 93%, wind: 3 m/s (5 kts) from W
Estimated seismic energy released	1.4 x 10¹² joules (392 megawatt hours, equivalent to 338 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
4.9	62 km	Near Goroka, Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea	USGS
4.9	62 km	Papua New Guinea: Eastern New Guinea Reg., P.N.G.	RaspberryShake
5.0	65 km	Papua New Guinea Region	GFZ
4.9	10 km	Papua New Guinea: Eastern New Guinea Reg., P.N.G.	IRIS
5.1	10 km	Papua New Guinea: Near Port Moresby	RENASS
4.9	60 km	Papua New Guinea: EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG., P.N.G.	EMSC

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User reports for this quake (1)

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Kainantu, Eastern Highlands (179.5 km W of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 30-60 s : Sitting and felt light movement. Slight rattle of coffee cups hanging. Few cabinet doors rattled.

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