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Papua New Guinea

M4.8 Earthquake near Solomon Islands (Papua New Guinea)

UTC time: 2025-12-18 22:35:27 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.

Magnitude
M4.8
Depth
419.0 km
Source
GFZ

Autonomous Region of Bougainville

Country overview

Map

About this earthquake

A magnitude M4.8 earthquake was recorded near Solomon Islands (Papua New Guinea) on December 18, 2025 at 22:35 UTC. At roughly 419 km, the focus was very deep, so surface shaking tends to be weaker. Earthquakes of this magnitude are clearly felt; minor damage to vulnerable buildings is possible.

The data is provided by GFZ and cross-checked across seismological networks.

Details

ID
b0f9ff61e2b4ee4566f1021126043ec8d1a84ad0
Magnitude
M4.8
Depth
419.0 km
UTC time
2025-12-18 22:35:27 UTC
Local time
—
Country
Papua New Guinea
City
Autonomous Region of Bougainville
Source
gfz
Coordinates
-5.83000, 154.66000
Temperature
28.6°C

Depth profile

Depth profile Depth: 419 km (Deep) Surface Shallow Intermediate Deep 0 km 70 km 300 km 700 km 419 km
Deep
419 km
419 km — deeper than the regional average (80.5 km)
Regional average: 80.5 km
Why depth matters

Deep quakes are felt over very large areas but rarely cause surface damage.

Depth classes per USGS

Volcanoes nearby

  • Balbi
    Distance: 39 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 2'715 m ·Papua New Guinea
  • Bagana
    Distance: 68 km ·Lava cone ·Elevation: 1'855 m ·Last eruption: 2026 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Billy Mitchell
    Distance: 69 km ·Caldera ·Elevation: 1'544 m ·Last eruption: 1580 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Takuan Group
    Distance: 125 km ·Compound ·Elevation: 2'210 m ·Papua New Guinea
  • Loloru
    Distance: 131 km ·Compound ·Elevation: 1'887 m ·Last eruption: -1050 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Rabaul
    Distance: 325 km ·Caldera ·Elevation: 688 m ·Last eruption: 2014 ·Papua New Guinea

Radius · 50 km

Nearby infrastructure

Up to 3 nearest sites per category

Airports

  • Buka AirportPapua New Guinea · BUA · AYBK
    45.4 kmStraight-line distance

Source: OurAirports · Dataset date: 2026-10-05

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

Papua New Guinea

Context for this earthquake

05 Oct 2025 – 05 Oct 2026 · M ≥ 3.0 · 307 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

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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