Earthquakes in Papua New Guinea

Seismic activity in Papua New Guinea is moderate by global standards, with 18 events recorded in the past 30 days, and 185 of the events on record reached magnitude 5 or above — the level at which damage becomes a genuine concern for vulnerable construction. Papua New Guinea sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire, and the depth distribution below shows the subducting slab beneath it directly.

551 earthquakes have been recorded in Papua New Guinea in our catalogue, 18 of them in the past 30 days.

The average magnitude is 4.8 and the average focal depth 74 km. 551 events reached magnitude 4 or above and 185 reached magnitude 5 or above.

The strongest earthquake recorded in Papua New Guinea in this period was a magnitude 7.2 event near Kimbe, Papua New Guinea on 04 April 2025, at a depth of 33 km. A magnitude 7.2 earthquake radiates roughly 951,499 tons of TNT equivalent in seismic energy.

Locations recording the most events include Kimbe (120), Kokopo (90), Panguna (47), Finschhafen (44), Lae (31).

60% of events here are shallow (under 70 km), 38% intermediate (70–300 km) and 3% deep-focus (over 300 km). A substantial share of intermediate-depth events points to a subducting slab beneath the region rather than purely crustal faulting.

The deepest event on record here was a magnitude 4.5 earthquake at 574 km beneath Kimbe, Papua New Guinea on 27 January 2026.

By band, the catalogue holds 366 in the magnitude 4 range, 173 in the magnitude 5 range, 11 in the magnitude 6 range, 1 in the magnitude 7 range.

The busiest single day was 05 April 2025, with 24 recorded events.

6 of these events carry a USGS link to NOAA tsunami information. That link flag does not mean a tsunami occurred or that a warning was issued.