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Very strong mag. 6.3 earthquake - Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea, on Sunday, 7 February 2021 at 05:45 (GMT) - information

Very strong mag. 6.3 Earthquake - Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea, on Sunday, Feb 7, 2021, at 03:45 pm (Port Moresby time)

A very strong magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurred in the Bismarck Sea 107 km (66 mi) from  Papua New Guinea in the early afternoon of Sunday, Feb 7, 2021 at 3.45 pm local time (Pacific/Port Moresby GMT +10). The quake had a very shallow depth of 10 km (6 mi) and was not felt (or at least not reported so).

Very strong mag. 6.3 Earthquake - Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea, on Sunday, Feb 7, 2021, at 03:45 pm (Port Moresby time) Very strong mag. 6.3 Earthquake - Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea, on Sunday, Feb 7, 2021, at 03:45 pm (Port Moresby time)
Very strong magnitude 6.3 earthquake at 10 km depth
7 Feb 05:54 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 8 minutes.
7 Feb 05:55: Magnitude recalculated from 6.0 to 6.1. Epicenter location corrected by 3.1 km (2 mi) towards SW.
... [show all] ...
7 Feb 06:11: Magnitude recalculated from 6.4 to 6.3.

Earthquake details

Date & timeFeb 7, 2021 05:45:55 UTC
Local time at epicenterSunday, Feb 7, 2021, at 03:45 pm (Pacific/Port Moresby GMT +10)
StatusConfirmed
Magnitude6.3
Depth10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude3.56°S / 145.92°E Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
Seismic antipode3.56°N / 34.08°W
Shaking intensityVery strong shaking near epicenter
Felt0 reports
Primary data sourceGFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
Nearest volcanounnamed (91 km / 57 mi)
Weather at epicenter at time of quakeLight Rain 29°C (84 F), humidity: 71%, wind: 2 m/s (5 kts) from WNW
Estimated seismic energy released1.8 x 1014 joules (49.4 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 42502 tons of TNT or 2.7 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy
Interactive map
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Nearby places

The closest larger town where the quake might have been felt is Madang, a town with 27,000 inhabitants in Papua New Guinea, in 185 km (115 mi) distance south of the epicenter. People likely experienced light shaking there. In the capital of  Papua New Guinea, Portus Moresbiensis, 672 km (418 mi) away from the epicenter, the earthquake was probably felt as weak shaking.
The following table shows some of the places that might have been affected (or not) by the shaking.
Distance Place Max. shaking intensity(*) Region Country
185 km (115 mi)
S of epicenter
Madang
(pop: 27,400)
IV: Light
Madang
227 km (141 mi)
NE of epicenter
Lorengau
(pop: 5,810)
IV: Light
Manus
254 km (158 mi)
W of epicenter
Wewak
(pop: 18,200)
IV: Light
East Sepik
287 km (178 mi)
S of epicenter
Goroka
(pop: 18,500)
IV: Light
Eastern Highlands
293 km (182 mi)
S of epicenter
Kundiawa
(pop: 9,380)
IV: Light
Chimbu
304 km (189 mi)
S of epicenter
Kainantu
(pop: 8,510)
IV: Light
Eastern Highlands
317 km (197 mi)
SW of epicenter
Mount Hagen
(pop: 33,600)
IV: Light
Hagen, Western Highlands
371 km (231 mi)
S of epicenter
Lae
(pop: 76,300)
III: Weak
Morobe
382 km (237 mi)
SW of epicenter
Mendi
(pop: 26,300)
III: Weak
Southern Highlands
672 km (418 mi)
S of epicenter
Portus Moresbiensis
(pop: 283,700)
III: Weak
National Capital
Notes:
(*) Shaking intensity according to the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) and estimated using seismic models.

User-reports for this quake (3)

We received 3 reports for this quake.
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Contribute:
Leave a comment if you find a particular report interesting or want to add to it.
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Port Moresby / not felt : p | 2 users found this interesting.  
Kerema, Gulf province / not felt : It was a normal Sunday 7th February morning..I did not feel any sign or movement of the earth.  
Port Moresby / not felt

What is Intensity and the Mercalli Intensity Scale?


The amount of shaking that occurs on the surface due to an earthquake is called the intensity. It is commonly measured on the so-called Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) ranging from 1 (not felt) to 10 (extreme shaking), and given in Roman numerals as I,II,...IX, X, and often displayed with color codes ranging from light blue to dark red.
Earthquake intensity depends mainly on the magnitude and depth of the quake as well as the distance from the epicenter: The further away, the less shaking intensity occurs.
Read more about the MMI scale!

Compare Quake Data

Data for the same earthquake as reported by different agencies

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 Time GMT
2021-02-7
Epicenter Agency
6.3 10 km
6.2 mi
(*)
05:45:55 Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
5.7 33 km
21 mi
05:45:55 Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
43 km (27 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ
BMKG (Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia)
6.3 51 km
32 mi
05:46:01 6.0 BISMARCK SEA, Papua New Guinea
41 km (25 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ
EMSC (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre)
6.2 10.2 km
6.3 mi
05:45:56 Papua New Guinea [Sea]
16 km (10 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ
INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia)
6.0 18 km
11 mi
05:45:55 Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
6.9 km (4.3 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ
GeoAu (Geoscience Australia )
6.3 10 km
6.2 mi
(*)
05:45:52 Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
33 km (21 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ
USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Notes:
(*) A depth given as 10 km often means that the the depth of the quake could not determined with sufficient accuracy.

Seismograms

Seismic station: Honiara, Solomon Islands (HNR/IU network) | Distance from quake: 1681 km / 1045 mi | Show on map | Station Info
Seismic station Honiara, Solomon Islands: 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: 0.02-2.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool
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3 aftershocks for this quake

For this strong earthquake, 3 aftershocks have been detected so far. The strongest was a magnitude 5.1 quake that hit 11 weeks after the mainshock in 27 km (17 mi) distance, in Papua New Guinea: Near N Coast Of New Guinea, Png., on Tuesday, Apr 27, 2021 on 06:13 pm (- local time GMT +10).
The most recent aftershock occurred 3 years ago Papua New Guinea: Bismarck Sea and had a magnitude of 4.5.

What are aftershocks?


Larger earthquakes (above magnitude 5 or so) such as this one are usually followed by smaller ones known as aftershocks that occur in the same area during the days, weeks, months or even years after the main shock.
[More info]

What about this quake?


Based on its magnitude, the fault that was active during the quake likely ruptured beneath a surface of approx. 200 km2 (=77 sqare miles) as a first-order estimate. The length of the rupture zone thus was probably around 24 km (15 mi).
[More info]


Recorded aftershocks, latest first (3 quakes)

Date and Time GMTMag
Depth
DistanceRegionDetails
Apr 28, 2021 08:11 am (GMT +10)
3 years ago
11 weeks after main shock
4.5

10 km
22 km (14 mi)
SE of main shock
Papua New Guinea: Bismarck SeaMore
Apr 27, 2021 06:13 pm (GMT +10)
3 years ago
11 weeks after main shock
5.1

10 km
27 km (17 mi)
W of main shock
Papua New Guinea: Near N Coast Of New Guinea, Png.More
Apr 27, 2021 06:03 pm (Port Moresby)
3 years ago
11 weeks after main shock
5.0

27 km
26 km (16 mi)
NW of main shock
Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New GuineaMore
Feb 7, 2021 03:45 pm (Port Moresby)
3 years ago
6.3

10 km
0 km - This quakeBismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea, 114 km NE of Volcano Island, Madang
Main Shock (this quake)
More

Map of aftershocks

Earthquake statistics

Average number of earthquakes

Based on data from the past 14 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 14.9 quakes on average per year in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi):
  • Mag. 6 or higher: 0.42 quakes per year (or 1 quake every 2.4 years)
  • Mag. 5 or higher: 3 quakes per year
  • Mag. 4 or higher: 13.1 quakes per year
  • Mag. 3 or higher: 13.4 quakes per year
  • Mag. 2 or higher: 13.4 quakes per year
The area where this quake occurred has a very high level of seismic activity. It has had at least 52 quakes above magnitude 6 since 1900, which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently, probably on average approximately every 1 to 5 years.

Number of quakes per year

Previous quakes in the same area of this earthquake

Map of earlier quakes in the area of this quake

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