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Papua New Guinea

M5.1 Earthquake near Near North Coast of Papua New Guinea (Papua New Guinea)

UTC time: 2025-05-03 16:21:11 UTC Local time: —
Earthquake newsQuakeMap24
Archive record · original publication time was not recorded

Automatically generated from measurement data by QuakeMap24. Values may change after further analysis.

Map

M5.1 Earthquake near Near North Coast of Papua New Guinea (Papua New Guinea) · 2025-05-03 — Map showing the location of the epicenter
M5.1 Earthquake near Near North Coast of Papua New Guinea (Papua New Guinea) · 2025-05-03 — Map showing the location of the epicenter

About this earthquake

On May 3, 2025 at 16:21 UTC, a magnitude M5.1 earthquake occurred near Near North Coast of Papua New Guinea (Papua New Guinea). With a focal depth of about 10 km, this was a shallow earthquake, whose shaking is usually felt more strongly at the surface. Earthquakes of this magnitude can damage poorly built structures.

The data is provided by GFZ and cross-checked across seismological networks. Papua New Guinea: over the past 24 hours, QuakeMap24 logged 2 earthquakes, the strongest at M4.9.

Details

ID
8b87ebfa43a3acff79c31a940b7e39f7354010b1
Magnitude
M5.1
Depth
10.0 km
UTC time
2025-05-03 16:21:11 UTC
Local time
—
Country
Papua New Guinea
City
East Sepik
Source
gfz
Coordinates
-3.35000, 143.57000

Depth profile

Depth profile Depth: 10 km (Shallow) Surface Shallow Intermediate Deep 0 km 70 km 300 km 700 km 10 km
Shallow
10 km
10 km — shallower than the regional average (82.7 km)
Regional average: 82.7 km
Why depth matters

Shallow quakes release energy near the surface — shaking is felt more strongly and damage potential is higher.

Depth classes per USGS

Nearby population centers

Distances are straight-line distances from the epicenter. Population data: GeoNames.

PlaceDistanceDirectionPopulation
Wewak23.3 kmS18'230
Jayapura329.4 kmW410'852

GeoNames · CC BY 4.0

Volcanoes nearby

  • Blup Blup
    Distance: 116 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 402 m ·Papua New Guinea
  • Kadovar
    Distance: 117 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 365 m ·Last eruption: 2023 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Bam
    Distance: 142 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 685 m ·Last eruption: 1960 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Manam
    Distance: 182 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 1'807 m ·Last eruption: 2026 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Karkar
    Distance: 303 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 1'839 m ·Last eruption: 1979 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Hankow Reef
    Distance: 388 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: -5 m ·Papua New Guinea

Radius · 100 km

Nearby infrastructure

Up to 3 nearest sites per category

Airports

  • Wewak International AirportPapua New Guinea · WWK · AYWK
    28.2 kmStraight-line distance

Source: OurAirports · Dataset date: 2026-10-04

This selection shows geographic proximity, not a hazard zone or confirmed impacts. Distances use recorded site coordinates. Sources & data dates

Subsequent earthquakes nearby

Events recorded after this earthquake within 150 km. They are not automatically classified as aftershocks.

First 6 hours0
First 24 hours0
First 72 hours0
Strongest subsequent eventM6.6
M6.42025-05-20 15:05:58 UTC143.9 kmNEAR N COAST OF NEW GUINEA, PNG. M6.62025-05-20 15:05:59 UTC148.6 km111 km NE of Angoram, Papua New Guinea M6.62025-05-20 15:06:02 UTC142.9 kmNear North Coast of Papua New Guinea M4.62025-05-22 05:41:39 UTC100.1 km27 km NE of Ambunti, Papua New Guinea M4.92025-05-22 05:41:39 UTC106.1 kmNew Guinea, Papua New Guinea M4.62025-05-22 05:41:39 UTC102.8 kmNEW GUINEA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Papua New Guinea

Context for this earthquake

04 Oct 2025 – 04 Oct 2026 · M ≥ 3.0 · 308 Catalogue entries

Sufficiently reliable matching data are not currently available for a direct comparison. The area profile shows the available records and their limitations.

Open seismic profile

Historical context nearby

Comparison with recorded earthquakes before this event within 150 km.

Magnitude rank#1
Earlier events M≥48
Earlier events M≥50
Compared since2025-01-18

The QuakeMap24 comparison dataset begins on 2024-03-23. Earlier earthquakes may not be included.

Strongest earlier events

M4.82025-02-23 13:54:34 UTC87.0 km40 km NE of Ambunti, Papua New Guinea M4.82025-02-14 08:09:58 UTC107.2 km56 km WSW of Angoram, Papua New Guinea M4.72025-01-18 18:38:53 UTC122.0 km9 km E of Ambunti, Papua New Guinea M4.62025-02-25 04:25:12 UTC80.3 km47 km NE of Ambunti, Papua New Guinea M4.32025-02-16 21:02:35 UTC71.9 km52 km SSW of Wewak, Papua New Guinea

Historic earthquake map · Papua New Guinea

Open history map
Explore recent and long-term earthquake activity in this country. Use filters to narrow down by magnitude, depth, and date range.

Country statistics · Papua New Guinea

Country overview
View earthquake KPIs, strongest and latest events, and averages for this country.

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