Back to map

M5.0 Earthquake near 87 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea

UTC time: 2025-01-17 18:21:56 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
10.0 km
Source
USGS

87 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea

Map

M5.0 Earthquake near 87 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea · 2025-01-17 — Map showing the location of the epicenter
M5.0 Earthquake near 87 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea · 2025-01-17 — Map showing the location of the epicenter

About this earthquake

A magnitude M5.0 earthquake was recorded near 87 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea on January 17, 2025 at 18:21 UTC. 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 event was recorded by USGS.

Details

ID
e35299c16b2a58995a37e4a4d988561b7ff81779
Magnitude
M5.0
Depth
10.0 km
UTC time
2025-01-17 18:21:56 UTC
Local time
—
Country
—
Source
usgs
Coordinates
-6.91580, 154.96490

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
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
Arawa101.1 kmNE40'266
Port Moresby905.9 kmW283'733

GeoNames · CC BY 4.0

Volcanoes nearby

  • Loloru
    Distance: 85 km ·Compound ·Elevation: 1'887 m ·Last eruption: -1050 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Takuan Group
    Distance: 88 km ·Compound ·Elevation: 2'210 m ·Papua New Guinea
  • Bagana
    Distance: 90 km ·Lava cone ·Elevation: 1'855 m ·Last eruption: 2026 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Billy Mitchell
    Distance: 96 km ·Caldera ·Elevation: 1'544 m ·Last eruption: 1580 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Balbi
    Distance: 111 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 2'715 m ·Papua New Guinea
  • Simbo
    Distance: 230 km ·Stratovolcano(es) ·Elevation: 335 m ·Last eruption: 1910 ·Solomon Islands

Radius · 100 km

Nearby infrastructure

Up to 3 nearest sites per category

Airports

  • Mono AirportSolomon Islands · MNY · AGGO
    86.5 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

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≥47
Earlier events M≥50
Compared since2025-01-03

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

Strongest earlier events

M4.92025-01-17 01:10:39 UTC7.5 km89 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea M4.82025-01-03 04:45:19 UTC49.6 km116 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea M4.72025-01-17 18:17:02 UTC9.7 km84 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea M4.72025-01-17 18:15:18 UTC23.7 km97 km SW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea M4.52025-01-16 02:17:22 UTC87.9 km102 km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea

Stats (last 24h)

Global (24h)
622
Country (24h)
—
—
Current earthquakes in
Magnitude Place Local time
No recent events available.

Share