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M5.5 Earthquake near 46 km E of Lae, Papua New Guinea

UTC time: 2025-04-13 03:48:23 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
M5.5
Depth
65.9 km
Source
USGS

46 km E of Lae, Papua New Guinea

Map

M5.5 Earthquake near 46 km E of Lae, Papua New Guinea · 2025-04-13 — Map showing the location of the epicenter
M5.5 Earthquake near 46 km E of Lae, Papua New Guinea · 2025-04-13 — Map showing the location of the epicenter

About this earthquake

On April 13, 2025 at 03:48 UTC, a magnitude M5.5 earthquake occurred near 46 km E of Lae, Papua New Guinea. The hypocenter lay relatively close to the surface at around 66 km, increasing how strongly it was felt. Events of this size can cause damage near the epicenter.

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

Details

ID
b351f8dc0bb82332d5da7c071925203fb8c744d7
Magnitude
M5.5
Depth
65.9 km
UTC time
2025-04-13 03:48:23 UTC
Local time
—
Country
—
Source
usgs
Coordinates
-6.72590, 147.41780

Depth profile

Depth profile Depth: 65.9 km (Shallow) Surface Shallow Intermediate Deep 0 km 70 km 300 km 700 km 65.9 km
Shallow
65.9 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
Lae46.6 kmW76'255
Port Moresby307.3 kmS283'733

GeoNames · CC BY 4.0

Volcanoes nearby

  • Umboi
    Distance: 137 km ·Complex ·Elevation: 1'335 m ·Papua New Guinea
  • Ritter Island
    Distance: 155 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 75 m ·Last eruption: 2007 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Long Island
    Distance: 161 km ·Complex ·Elevation: 1'263 m ·Last eruption: 1993 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Sakar
    Distance: 164 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 947 m ·Papua New Guinea
  • Langila Activity reported
    Distance: 174 km ·Complex ·Elevation: 1'330 m ·Last eruption: 2026 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Hankow Reef
    Distance: 219 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: -5 m ·Papua New Guinea

Radius · 100 km

Nearby infrastructure

Up to 3 nearest sites per category

Airports

  • Nadzab Tomodachi International AirportPapua New Guinea · LAE · AYNZ
    78.3 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 eventM5.0
M4.52025-04-18 02:57:49 UTC72.7 km27 km NNE of Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea M4.32025-04-20 05:47:08 UTC142.5 km94 km E of Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea M4.92025-04-29 07:11:15 UTC94.4 kmPapua New Guinea Region M4.82025-04-30 13:45:46 UTC139.0 kmPapua New Guinea Region M5.02025-05-11 04:52:32 UTC101.8 kmPapua New Guinea Region

No unambiguous area assignment

Context for this earthquake

This event has no unambiguous country assignment in the analysed catalogue. It is therefore not assigned to a regional profile.

Earthquake overview

Historical context nearby

Comparison with recorded earthquakes before this event within 150 km.

Magnitude rank#1
Earlier events M≥425
Earlier events M≥52
Compared since2025-01-08

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

Strongest earlier events

M5.02025-03-15 16:28:36 UTC71.6 km60 km NNW of Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea M5.02025-01-13 07:08:04 UTC75.7 km53 km N of Lae, Papua New Guinea M4.82025-01-19 10:27:23 UTC142.4 km136 km N of Lae, Papua New Guinea M4.72025-02-22 14:16:13 UTC2.0 km45 km E of Lae, Papua New Guinea M4.62025-02-22 19:31:57 UTC142.2 km140 km N of Lae, Papua New Guinea

Stats (last 24h)

Global (24h)
531
Country (24h)
—
—
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