A significant Magnitude 5.3 foreshock struck in the Solomon Sea 145 kilometer from Arawa, Papua New Guinea in the morning of Sunday February 23rd, 2025.
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Earthquake Summary
This earthquake hit under water in the Solomon Sea, 72 kilometers (45 mi) off the coast of Papua New Guinea, 145 kilometer south-southeast of Arawa in Bougainville. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 52 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.
| Date and Time: | Feb 23, 2025 09:21 (Bougainville Time) - Feb 22, 2025 22:21 Universal Time. |
|---|---|
| Location: | 145 km SSE of Arawa, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. Coordinates 7°28'32"S 155°58'3"E. |
| Map: |  Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps. |
| Magnitude: | MAG 5.3 Detected by 15 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.08 . |
| Depth: | 52 km (32 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
This earthquake may have been felt in Papua New Guinea . Located 145 kilometer (90 mi) south-southeast of the epicenter of this earthquake, Arawa (Bougainville, Papua New Guinea) is the nearest significant population center.
Overview of nearby places
| Distance | Place |
|---|---|
| 145 km (90 mi) NNW from epicenter |
Arawa Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. |
This is likely a foreshock
This earthquake was followed by a stronger MAG-5.6 earthquake, classifying this earthquake as a foreshock.
Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks
| Classification | Magnitude | When | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreshock | M 4.8 |
5 hrs earlier Feb 23, 2025 07:39 (Bougainville Time) | 50 km (31 mi) SE from Main Shock. |
| Foreshock | M 4.5 |
5 hrs earlier Feb 23, 2025 07:39 (Bougainville Time) | 50 km (31 mi) NNW from Main Shock. |
| Foreshock This Earthquake |
M 5.3 |
3 hrs earlier Feb 23, 2025 09:21 (Bougainville Time) | 12 km (7 mi) E from Main Shock. |
| Main Shock | M 5.6 |
Feb 23, 2025 12:31 (Bougainville Time) | - |
| Aftershock | M 4.5 |
8 mins later Feb 23, 2025 12:40 (Bougainville Time) | 61 km (38 mi) NW from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 4.5 |
8 mins later Feb 23, 2025 12:40 (Bougainville Time) | 61 km (38 mi) NW from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 5.1 |
15 mins later Feb 23, 2025 12:46 (Bougainville Time) | 15 km (9 mi) NNW from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 5.4 |
3 hrs later Feb 23, 2025 15:17 (Bougainville Time) | 15 km (9 mi) NNE 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.
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 February 10th, 2025, when a 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit 50 km (31 mi) further northwest. An even stronger magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck on January 22nd, 2017.
In total, 74 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.3 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 5.3. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami. |
This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 52 km (32 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami. |
Sources
Last updated 13/03/25 00:28 (). 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 us7000pfii
- European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20250222_0000240
- Geonames.org: World Cities Database
- Google Maps: Static API
- Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database
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