In the South Pacific Ocean 238 kilometer from Wewak, Papua New Guinea, a significant MAG-5.1 earthquake occurred in the night of Friday February 7th, 2025. Indonesia is also near its epicenter.
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Earthquake Summary
This earthquake hit under water in the South Pacific Ocean, right off the coast of Papua New Guinea, 238 kilometer west-northwest of Wewak in East Sepik. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 35 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.
| Date and Time: | Feb 7, 2025 01:24 (Jayapura Time) - Feb 6, 2025 16:24 Universal Time. |
|---|---|
| Location: | 105 km ESE of Jayapura, Papua, Indonesia. Coordinates 2°48'50"S 141°37'12"E. |
| Map: |  Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps. |
| Magnitude: | MAG 5.1 Detected by 18 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.073 . |
| Depth: | 35 km (22 mi) A quite shallow depth. |
| Tsunami Risk: | Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here. |
Nearby towns and cities
2 countries can be found within 300km of the epicenter of this earthquake: Indonesia and Papua New Guinea .
The closest significant population center near the earthquake is Jayapura in Papua, Indonesia. Jayapura is located 105 kilometer (65 mi) east-southeast of the epicenter.
Overview of nearby places
| Distance | Place |
|---|---|
| 105 km (65 mi) WNW from epicenter |
Jayapura Papua, Indonesia. |
| 112 km (70 mi) WNW from epicenter |
Abepura Papua, Indonesia. |
| 238 km (148 mi) ESE from epicenter |
Wewak East Sepik, Papua New Guinea. |
4 Aftershocks detected
After this earthquake struck, 4 smaller aftershocks occurred. A 5 magnitude earthquake hit 45 mins later 1.6 km (1 mi) south-east of this earthquake.
Before this earthquake struck, 3 smaller foreshocks occurred. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit 1 day earlier nearby.
Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks
| Classification | Magnitude | When | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreshock | M 3.9 |
2 days earlier Feb 4, 2025 17:39 (Jayapura Time) | 88 km (55 mi) SSW from Main Shock. |
| Foreshock | M 4.8 |
1 day earlier Feb 5, 2025 21:50 (Jayapura Time) | 42 km (26 mi) NW from Main Shock. |
| Foreshock | M 2.9 |
17 hrs earlier Feb 6, 2025 08:09 (Jayapura Time) | 92 km (57 mi) WNW from Main Shock. |
| Main Shock This Earthquake |
M 5.1 |
Feb 7, 2025 01:24 (Jayapura Time) | - |
| Aftershock | M 5.0 |
45 mins later Feb 7, 2025 02:09 (Jayapura Time) | 1.6 km (1 mi) SE from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 3.7 |
2 hrs later Feb 7, 2025 03:43 (Jayapura Time) | 21 km (13 mi) NNE from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 3.5 |
4 hrs later Feb 7, 2025 05:52 (Jayapura Time) | 25 km (16 mi) NNE from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 4.8 |
1 day later Feb 8, 2025 11:41 (Jayapura Time) | 4 km (2.3 mi) SW from Main Shock. |
More earthquakes coming?
The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.
In only six percent of cases, significant earthquakes are followed by a larger main shock, making the current earthquake a foreshock. While the chance of this happening is not so large, it is adviced to maintain cautiousness in the hours and days following a major 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 September 5th, 2024, when a 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit 297 km (185 mi) further east-southeast. An even stronger magnitude 7 earthquake struck on April 2nd, 2023.
In total, 58 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 2 months.
Low tsunami risk
Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so 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. |
This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 35 km (22 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami. |
Sources
Last updated 08/02/25 20:28 (). This article contains currently available information about the earthquake and is automatically composed. We continue to update this article up to a few days after the earthquake occurred.
- US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us7000pbtz
- European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20250206_0000302
- Geonames.org: World Cities Database
- Google Maps: Static API
- Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database
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