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Papua New Guinea

M5.1 Earthquake near Near North Coast of Papua New Guinea (Papua New Guinea)

UTC time: 2025-05-17 00:45:41 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.

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M5.1 Earthquake near Near North Coast of Papua New Guinea (Papua New Guinea) · 2025-05-17 — Map showing the location of the epicenter
M5.1 Earthquake near Near North Coast of Papua New Guinea (Papua New Guinea) · 2025-05-17 — Map showing the location of the epicenter

About this earthquake

A magnitude M5.1 earthquake was recorded near Near North Coast of Papua New Guinea (Papua New Guinea) on May 17, 2025 at 00:45 UTC. With a focal depth of about 10 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 GFZ. Papua New Guinea: 2 earthquakes were recorded in the past 24 hours, the strongest reaching M4.9.

Details

ID
fbc10beff22df21720074af9918c74e2dae21a55
Magnitude
M5.1
Depth
10.0 km
UTC time
2025-05-17 00:45:41 UTC
Local time
—
Country
Papua New Guinea
City
Madang
Source
gfz
Coordinates
-3.43000, 145.46000
Temperature
28.4°C

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
10 km — shallower than the regional average (82.7 km)
Regional average: 82.7 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
Madang202.5 kmS27'419
Jayapura535.9 kmW410'852

GeoNames · CC BY 4.0

Volcanoes nearby

  • Bam
    Distance: 74 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 685 m ·Last eruption: 1960 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Manam
    Distance: 86 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 1'807 m ·Last eruption: 2026 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Blup Blup
    Distance: 95 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 402 m ·Papua New Guinea
  • Kadovar
    Distance: 99 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 365 m ·Last eruption: 2023 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Karkar
    Distance: 147 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: 1'839 m ·Last eruption: 1979 ·Papua New Guinea
  • Hankow Reef
    Distance: 213 km ·Stratovolcano ·Elevation: -5 m ·Papua New Guinea

Madang

Context for this earthquake

04 Oct 2025 – 04 Oct 2026 · M ≥ 3.0 · 44 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

Historical context nearby

Comparison with recorded earthquakes before this event within 150 km.

Magnitude rank#1
Earlier events M≥45
Earlier events M≥51
Compared since2025-02-14

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

Strongest earlier events

M5.12025-05-17 00:45:38 UTC16.1 kmNEAR N COAST OF NEW GUINEA, PNG. M4.92025-02-20 19:16:58 UTC54.2 km201 km SW of Lorengau, Papua New Guinea M4.82025-02-14 09:19:49 UTC87.9 km204 km WSW of Lorengau, Papua New Guinea M4.62025-02-14 10:38:10 UTC77.8 km112 km E of Angoram, Papua New Guinea M4.52025-04-18 15:49:02 UTC34.3 km137 km ENE of Angoram, Papua New Guinea

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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