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M5.1 Earthquake near 42 km N of Kainantu, Papua New Guinea

UTC time: 2025-03-17 21:18:02 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
M5.1
Depth
65.4 km
Source
USGS

42 km N of Kainantu, Papua New Guinea

Map

M5.1 Earthquake near 42 km N of Kainantu, Papua New Guinea · 2025-03-17 — Map showing the location of the epicenter
M5.1 Earthquake near 42 km N of Kainantu, Papua New Guinea · 2025-03-17 — Map showing the location of the epicenter

About this earthquake

A magnitude M5.1 earthquake was recorded near 42 km N of Kainantu, Papua New Guinea on March 17, 2025 at 21:18 UTC. With a focal depth of about 65 km, this was a shallow earthquake, whose shaking is usually felt more strongly at the surface. Events of this size can cause damage near the epicenter.

The event was recorded by USGS.

Details

ID
ee4039de1708798746da4323bf0f083bd52b025c
Magnitude
M5.1
Depth
65.4 km
UTC time
2025-03-17 21:18:02 UTC
Local time
—
Country
—
Source
usgs
Coordinates
-5.90360, 145.85890

Depth profile

Depth profile Depth: 65.4 km (Shallow) Surface Shallow Intermediate Deep 0 km 70 km 300 km 700 km 65.4 km
Shallow
65.4 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
Goroka56.0 kmW18'503
Port Moresby422.1 kmS283'733

GeoNames · CC BY 4.0

Volcanoes nearby

  • Karkar
    Distance: 140 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 1'839 m ·Last eruption: 1979 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Hankow Reef
    Distance: 148 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: -5 m ·Papua New Guinea
  • Long Island
    Distance: 153 km ·Complex ·Elevation: 1'263 m ·Last eruption: 1993 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Manam
    Distance: 222 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 1'807 m ·Last eruption: 2026 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Umboi
    Distance: 228 km ·Complex ·Elevation: 1'335 m ·Papua New Guinea
  • Sakar
    Distance: 252 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 947 m ·Papua New Guinea

Radius · 100 km

Nearby infrastructure

Up to 3 nearest sites per category

Airports

  • Goroka AirportPapua New Guinea · GKA · AYGA
    55.3 kmStraight-line distance
  • Madang AirportPapua New Guinea · MAG · AYMD
    77.8 kmStraight-line distance
  • Chimbu AirportPapua New Guinea · CMU · AYCH
    99.1 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

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≥415
Earlier events M≥51
Compared since2025-01-06

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

Strongest earlier events

M5.02025-01-13 07:08:04 UTC124.9 km53 km N of Lae, Papua New Guinea M4.92025-02-15 11:56:05 UTC91.4 km29 km WNW of Madang, Papua New Guinea M4.82025-02-14 09:27:41 UTC40.7 km28 km NNE of Goroka, Papua New Guinea M4.82025-01-19 10:27:23 UTC141.5 km136 km N of Lae, Papua New Guinea M4.72025-03-17 20:13:00 UTC37.4 km43 km NNE of Goroka, Papua New Guinea

Stats (last 24h)

Global (24h)
528
Country (24h)
—
—
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