How frequent are earthquakes in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi)?

Q: How frequent are earthquakes in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi)?

The area where this quake occurred has a very high level of seismic activity. Based on data from the past 14 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 13.2 quakes on average per year in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi). It has had at least 49 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.

Very Strong Mag. 6.1 Earthquake - Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea, on Tuesday, Apr 27, 2021, at 06:05 pm (Port Moresby Time) -

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Very strong mag. 6.1 earthquake - Bismarck Sea, 195 km north of Madang, Papua New Guinea, on Tuesday, 27 April 2021 at 08:05 (GMT)

A very strong magnitude 6.1 earthquake occurred in the Bismarck Sea 80 km (50 mi) from Papua New Guinea in the late afternoon of Tuesday, Apr 27, 2021 at 6.05 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. 6.1 Earthquake - Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea, on Tuesday, Apr 27, 2021, at 06:05 pm (Port Moresby time)

Very strong magnitude 6.1 earthquake at 10 km depth

27 Apr 08:13 UTC: First to report: GFZ after 8 minutes.
27 Apr 08:14: Magnitude recalculated from 6.0 to 5.9. Epicenter location corrected by 5.7 km (3.5 mi) towards S.
27 Apr 08:23: Magnitude recalculated from 5.9 to 6.1. Epicenter location corrected by 1.1 km (0.7 mi) towards W.

Earthquake details

Date & time	Apr 27, 2021 08:05:32 UTC
Local time at epicenter	Tuesday, Apr 27, 2021, at 06:05 pm (Pacific/Port Moresby GMT +10)
Status	Preliminary (automatic detection)
Magnitude	6.1
Depth	10 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude	3.49°S / 145.53°E Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
Seismic antipode	3.49°N / 34.47°W
Shaking intensity	VI Strong shaking near epicenter
Felt	0 reports
Primary data source	GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
Nearest volcano	Bam (81 km / 50 mi)
Weather at epicenter at time of quake	Clear Sky 28.8°C (84 F), humidity: 69%, wind: 3 m/s (6 kts) from N
Estimated seismic energy released	8.9 x 10¹³ joules (24.8 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 21301 tons of TNT or 1.3 atomic bombs!) \| about seismic energy

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Most recent quakes Top 20 past 24 hrs Quakes in Papua New Guinea

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 195 km (121 mi) distance south of the epicenter. People likely experienced light shaking there. In the capital of

Papua New Guinea, Portus Moresbiensis, 690 km (428 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
195 km (121 mi) S of epicenter	Madang (pop: 27,400)	IV: Light	Madang	Papua New Guinea
211 km (131 mi) W of epicenter	Wewak (pop: 18,200)	IV: Light	East Sepik	Papua New Guinea
252 km (157 mi) NE of epicenter	Lorengau (pop: 5,810)	IV: Light	Manus	Papua New Guinea
288 km (179 mi) S of epicenter	Kundiawa (pop: 9,380)	III: Weak	Chimbu	Papua New Guinea
289 km (180 mi) S of epicenter	Goroka (pop: 18,500)	III: Weak	Eastern Highlands	Papua New Guinea
300 km (186 mi) SW of epicenter	Wabag (pop: 3,960)	III: Weak	Enga	Papua New Guinea
300 km (187 mi) SW of epicenter	Mount Hagen (pop: 33,600)	III: Weak	Hagen, Western Highlands	Papua New Guinea
361 km (224 mi) SW of epicenter	Mendi (pop: 26,300)	III: Weak	Southern Highlands	Papua New Guinea
395 km (245 mi) SE of epicenter	Lae (pop: 76,300)	III: Weak	Morobe	Papua New Guinea
690 km (428 mi) S of epicenter	Portus Moresbiensis (pop: 283,700)	III: Weak	National Capital	Papua New Guinea

Notes:
(*) Shaking intensity according to the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale (MMI) and estimated using seismic models.

User-reports for this quake

There are no user reports for this quake yet.

If you felt it, be the first to report it!

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 2021-04-27	Epicenter	Agency
6.1	10 km 6.2 mi (*)	08:05:32	Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea	GFZ (German Research Centre for Geosciences)
5.9	10 km 6.2 mi (*)	08:05:32	NEAR N COAST OF NEW GUINEA, PNG., Papua New Guinea 7.9 km (4.9 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	EMSC (European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre)
6.2	10 km 6.2 mi (*)	08:05:33	Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea 8.7 km (5.4 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	BMKG (Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia)
5.6	10 km 6.2 mi (*)	08:05:33	Near Lae, Papua New Guinea 9.4 km (5.9 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	RENASS (Réseau National de Surveillance Sismique (RéNaSS))
6.1	10 km 6.2 mi (*)	08:05:32	176 km ENE of Angoram, Papua New Guinea 9.3 km (5.8 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	USGS (United States Geological Survey)
6.0	10.2 km 6.3 mi	08:05:33	Near North Coast of New Guinea, Papua New Guinea [Sea: Papua New Guinea] 3.7 km (2.3 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia)
6.1	10 km 6.2 mi (*)	08:05:32	Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea 3.2 km (2 mi) epicenter difference with GFZ	GeoAu (Geoscience Australia )

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: Port Moresby, New Guinea (PMG/IU network) | Distance from quake: 682 km / 424 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: 0.02-5.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

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

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

Seismograms around time of quake, showing horizontal E-W and N-S ground movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Honiara, Solomon Islands (HNR/IU network) | Distance from quake: 1724 km / 1071 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

Seismic station Honiara, Solomon Islands: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Honiara, Solomon Islands: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Tennant Creek, NT, Australia (WRAB/II network) | Distance from quake: 2193 km / 1363 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Tennant Creek, NT, Australia: 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

Seismic station Tennant Creek, NT, Australia: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Tennant Creek, NT, Australia: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Gagan, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands (KWJN/II network) | Distance from quake: 2822 km / 1754 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Gagan, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall 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

Seismic station Gagan, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Gagan, Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

Seismic station: Marble Bar, Western Australia (MBWA/IU network) | Distance from quake: 3411 km / 2120 mi | Show on map | Station Info

Seismic station Marble Bar, Western Australia: 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

Seismic station Marble Bar, Western Australia: horizontal (E-W) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismic station Marble Bar, Western Australia: horizontal (N-S) movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)

Seismograms around time of quake.
Top: vertical movement, bottom: horizontal (E-W and N-S) movements. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool

4 aftershocks for this quake

For this earthquake, 4 aftershocks have been detected so far. The strongest was a magnitude 5.5 quake that hit 2 hours and 59 minutes after the mainshock in 6.3 km (3.9 mi) distance, in Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea, on Tuesday, Apr 27, 2021 on 09:04 pm (Port Moresby local time GMT +10).

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. 126 km² (=49 sqare miles) as a first-order estimate. The length of the rupture zone thus was probably around 19 km (12 mi).

[More info]

Recorded aftershocks, latest first (4 quakes)

Date and Time GMT	Mag Depth	Distance	Region	Details
Apr 27, 2021 09:04 pm (Port Moresby) 3 years ago 2 hours and 59 minutes after main shock	5.5 10 km	6.3 km (3.9 mi) NE of main shock	Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea	More
Apr 27, 2021 08:40 pm (Port Moresby) 3 years ago - felt 2 hours and 35 minutes after main shock	5.2 10 km	9.4 km (5.9 mi) NW of main shock	Near N. Coast of New Guinea, PNG., Papua New Guinea	More
Apr 27, 2021 06:48 pm (GMT +10) 3 years ago 43 minutes after main shock	4.4 10 km	10.9 km (6.8 mi) SE of main shock	Papua New Guinea: Near N Coast Of New Guinea, Png.	More
Apr 27, 2021 06:13 pm (GMT +10) 3 years ago 8 minutes after main shock	5.1 10 km	18 km (11 mi) E of main shock	Papua New Guinea: Near N Coast Of New Guinea, Png.	More
Apr 27, 2021 06:05 pm (Port Moresby) 3 years ago	6.1 10 km	0 km - This quake	Bismarck Sea, 195 km N of Madang, Madang, Papua New Guinea 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 13.2 quakes on average per year in the area near the epicenter of this quake (within 100 km/61 mi):

Mag. 6 or higher: 0.39 quakes per year (or 1 quake every 2.6 years)
Mag. 5 or higher: 2.6 quakes per year
Mag. 4 or higher: 11.2 quakes per year
Mag. 3 or higher: 11.5 quakes per year
Mag. 2 or higher: 11.5 quakes per year

The area where this quake occurred has a very high level of seismic activity. It has had at least 49 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

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