In the early morning of Wednesday January 15th, 2025, a significant M5.1 earthquake hit in the Bismarck Sea 69 kilometer from Kimbe, Papua New Guinea.
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Earthquake Summary
This earthquake hit under water in the Bismarck Sea, 24 kilometers (15 mi) off the coast of Papua New Guinea, 69 kilometer northwest of Kimbe in West New Britain. The center of this earthquake had a deep depth of 375 km.
| Date and Time: | Jan 15, 2025 05:40 (Port Moresby Time) - Jan 14, 2025 19:40 Universal Time. |
|---|---|
| Location: | 69 km NW of Kimbe, West New Britain, Papua New Guinea. Coordinates 5°2'7"S 149°47'54"E. |
| Map: |  Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps. |
| Magnitude: | MAG 5.1 Detected by 209 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.039 . |
| Depth: | 375 km (233 mi) A deep depth. |
| Tsunami Risk: | Tsunami very unlikely Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 at depths deeper than 100km are very unlikely to cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here. |
Nearby towns and cities
This earthquake may have been felt in Papua New Guinea . Kimbe in West New Britain, Papua New Guinea is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 69 kilometer (43 mi) northwest of Kimbe.
Overview of nearby places
| Distance | Place |
|---|---|
| 69 km (43 mi) SE from epicenter |
Kimbe West New Britain, Papua New Guinea. |
| 284 km (176 mi) ENE from epicenter |
Kokopo East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. |
Risk of aftershocks?
This earthquake did not have any significant foreshocks nor aftershocks occurring within 100km (62 mi) of its epicenter.
The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.
It's always adviced to be cautious of the risk of a larger shock following any significant earthquake, however this risk is fairly small. There is a roughly 94 percent change that no larger main shock will follow in the days following this earthquake.
Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).Earthquakes like this happen often in the region
Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since January 5th, 2025, when a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit 255 km (159 mi) further north-east. An even stronger magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck on May 5th, 2015.
In total, 238 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.1 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every 15 days.
Tsunami very unlikely
For a serious tsunami to occur, earthquakes usually need to have a magnitude of at least 6.5 and occur at a shallow depth of maximum 100km. Neither are the case with this earthquake. However always stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.
Tsunami Risk Factors
| Factor | Under Sea? | MAG-6.5 or stronger? | Shallow depth? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Explanation | Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami. | Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami. MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes. MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's. |
Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor. |
| This Earthquake | This earthquake appears to have struck under the sea. | Not this earthquake. This earthquake had a magnitude of 5.1. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami. |
Not this earthquake. This earthquake occurred at a depth of 375 km (233 mi). Earthquakes this deep in the earth are unlikely to trigger a tsunami. |
Sources
Last updated 15/01/25 07:58 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.
- US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000pjz0
- European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20250114_0000254
- Geonames.org: World Cities Database
- Google Maps: Static API
- Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database
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