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M5.0 Earthquake near 30 km ESE of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea

UTC time: 2025-01-15 02:08:39 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
M5.0
Depth
16.4 km
Source
USGS

30 km ESE of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea

Map

M5.0 Earthquake near 30 km ESE of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea · 2025-01-15 — Map showing the location of the epicenter
M5.0 Earthquake near 30 km ESE of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea · 2025-01-15 — Map showing the location of the epicenter

About this earthquake

On January 15, 2025 at 02:08 UTC, a magnitude M5.0 earthquake occurred near 30 km ESE of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea. With a focal depth of about 16 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 event was recorded by USGS.

Details

ID
b7ca58731b023ec7f69a42189b711e39b4402ff3
Magnitude
M5.0
Depth
16.4 km
UTC time
2025-01-15 02:08:39 UTC
Local time
—
Country
—
Source
usgs
Coordinates
-2.79140, 141.55040

Depth profile

Depth profile Depth: 16.4 km (Shallow) Surface Shallow Intermediate Deep 0 km 70 km 300 km 700 km 16.4 km
Shallow
16.4 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
Jayapura96.8 kmW410'852

GeoNames · CC BY 4.0

Volcanoes nearby

  • Blup Blup
    Distance: 348 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 402 m ·Papua New Guinea
  • Kadovar
    Distance: 349 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 365 m ·Last eruption: 2023 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Bam
    Distance: 374 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 685 m ·Last eruption: 1960 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Manam
    Distance: 413 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 1'807 m ·Last eruption: 2026 ·Papua New Guinea

Radius · 100 km

Nearby infrastructure

Up to 3 nearest sites per category

Airports

  • Vanimo AirportPapua New Guinea · VAI · AYVN
    29.6 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

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 eventM5.1
M4.62025-01-25 23:19:38 UTC22.1 km51 km ESE of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea M4.72025-01-26 19:22:27 UTC38.7 km17 km N of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea M4.52025-01-27 13:17:55 UTC63.2 km33 km WNW of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea M5.12025-02-06 16:24:57 UTC7.5 km37 km ESE of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea M5.02025-02-06 17:09:56 UTC7.5 km36 km ESE of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea M4.62025-02-08 02:41:59 UTC12.5 km32 km SE of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea

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≥41
Earlier events M≥50
Compared since2025-01-06

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

Strongest earlier events

M4.22025-01-06 11:47:24 UTC101.9 km5 km NW of Jayapura, Indonesia

Stats (last 24h)

Global (24h)
590
Country (24h)
—
—
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