Strong M6.6 Earthquake hit near Lae in Papua New Guinea on Tuesday Evening.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on October 7th, 2025. Last updated December 4th, 2025.

A strong Magnitude 6.6 earthquake struck under land 20 kilometer from Lae in Papua New Guinea in the evening of Tuesday October 7th, 2025. The USGS has indicated there is a potential risk at tsunami's following this earthquake.

Earthquake Summary

The earthquake struck on land in Papua New Guinea, 20 kilometer (12 mi) west of Lae in Morobe. The center of this earthquake had an intermediate depth of 104 km.

Date and Time:	Oct 7, 2025 21:05 (Port Moresby Time) - Oct 7, 2025 11:05 Universal Time.
Location:	20 km west of Lae, Morobe, Papua New Guinea. Coordinates 6°45'20"S 146°48'54"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 6.6 Detected by 8 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.035 .
Depth:	104 km (65 mi) An intermediate depth.
Max. Intensity:	VI Strong On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Potential tsunami risk The USGS has indicated there is a potential risk at tsunami's following this earthquake. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Potential tsunami risk

DISCLAIMER: We strongly suggest to closely monitor advice from local authorities with regards to tsunami risks. Our analysis is based on automatically collected data from external sources, and these might contain mistakes. In addition, earthquakes can cause landslides that may lead to a tsunami, or be a followed by another, potentially stonger, earthquake.

There is a potential tsunami risk in the aftermath of this earthquake, immediately evacuate to higher grounds away from coastal areas and monitor advice from local authorities. The US Geographic Survey organization has indicated a potential risk for tsunami's following this earthquake.

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 on land near a coastal area (14 km from the sea).	This earthquake had a magnitude of 6.6. Earthquakes of this strength could trigger a tsunami.	Not this earthquake. This earthquake occurred at a depth of 104 km (65 mi). Earthquakes this deep in the earth are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.

Minimal impact predicted

The US Geographic Survey (USGS) describes the impact of this earthquake as follows:

Some homes destroyed with power and communication outages reported in Lae.

Based on scientific estimates by the USGS, the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 fatalities, and a 96% chance that the number of fatalities falls no higher than 10.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact, and a 96% chance that the economic impact of this earthquake falls no higher than 10 million USD.

Roughly 2.4 million people exposed to shaking

An estimated 2.4 million have been exposed to shaking (An MMI or Modified Mercalli Intensity level II or higher) as a result of this earthquake according scientific estimates published by the USGS.

Strong shaking and probably light damage may have been experienced by an estimated 3,320 people. At VI, it is the highest MMI level this earthquake has caused. Intensity level IV was experienced by the majority of people (around 1.8 million). In their region, light shaking and likely no damage can be expected. All exposure to shaking was within the borders of Papua New Guinea .

People	MMI Level	Shaking	Damage
0	I	Not noticable	None
0	II	Very weak	None
108,100	III	Weak	Probably none
1,803,000	IV	Light	Likely none
492,400	V	Moderate	Very light
3,320	VI	Strong	Light
0	VII	Very Strong	Moderate
0	VIII	Severe	Moderate to heavy
0	IX	Violent	Heavy
0	X	Extreme	Very heavy

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in Papua New Guinea . Lae in Morobe, Papua New Guinea is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 20 kilometer (12 mi) west of Lae. The intensity of shaking and damage in Lae is estimated to be around level V on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (moderate shaking, very light damage).

A complete list of nearby places is included below. Estimated intensity data (MMI) sourced from a shake-map published by the US Geographic Survey is shown where available (cities without data probably experienced little impact).

Overview of nearby places

Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.
Distance	Place	Intensity (MMI)
20 km (12 mi) E from epicenter	Lae Morobe, Papua New Guinea.	V Moderate
53 km (33 mi) SSW from epicenter	Bulolo Morobe, Papua New Guinea.	V Moderate
175 km (109 mi) WNW from epicenter	Goroka Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea.	IV Light
205 km (127 mi) NW from epicenter	Madang Madang, Papua New Guinea.	IV Light
273 km (170 mi) SE from epicenter	Popondetta Northern Province, Papua New Guinea.
303 km (188 mi) WNW from epicenter	Mount Hagen Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea.
305 km (190 mi) S from epicenter	Port Moresby National Capital, Papua New Guinea.
355 km (221 mi) W from epicenter	Mendi Southern Highlands, Papua New Guinea.
391 km (243 mi) ENE from epicenter	Kimbe West New Britain, Papua New Guinea.
474 km (295 mi) SW from epicenter	Daru Western Province, Papua New Guinea.

Earthquake Intensity Map

The graph below overlays a map of the region around the epicenter with earthquake intensity data provided by the US Geographic Survey. The highest intensity level detected for this earthquake is VI.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Earthquake Intensity Map based on Shakemap Data provided by USGS.

Shaking reported by 46 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 46 people have reported shaking in 8 places, all within Papua New Guinea.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

Port Moresby, National Capital District, Papua New Guinea: 33 people.
Kainantu, Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea: 3 people.
Goroka, Eastern Highlands, Papua New Guinea: 3 people.
Wau, Morobe, Papua New Guinea: 2 people.
Mount Hagen, Western Highlands, Papua New Guinea: 2 people.
Bulolo, Morobe, Papua New Guinea: 1 person.
Kundiawa, Simbu, Papua New Guinea: 1 person.
Balimo, Fly River, Papua New Guinea: 1 person.

3 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 3 smaller aftershocks occurred. At a distance of 37 km (23 mi) north of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 1 hr later. It measured a magnitude of 4.6

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

Detected MAG2.5+ earthquakes within within 100km (62 mi), that occurred in the three days before and after the main shock.
Classification	Magnitude	When	Where
Main Shock This Earthquake	M 6.6	Oct 7, 2025 21:05 (Port Moresby Time)	-
Aftershock	M 4.6	1 hr later Oct 7, 2025 22:10 (Port Moresby Time)	37 km (23 mi) N from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 4.3	1 day later Oct 9, 2025 02:49 (Port Moresby Time)	13 km (8 mi) SE from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 4.0	2 days later Oct 10, 2025 08:06 (Port Moresby Time)	49 km (30 mi) NE from Main Shock.

More earthquakes coming?

Earthquakes can create aftershocks. These are generally at least 1 magnitude lower than any main shock, and as time passes the chance and strength of aftershocks decreases.

The chance that a significant earthquake like this one is followed by an even larger earthquake is not so large. On average, scientists estimate a 94% chance that a major earthquake will not be followed by an even larger one. It is still adviced to be aware of this risk

Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).

Earthquakes like this are common in the region

Earthquakes of this strength occur quite regularly in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since October 7th, 2023, when a 6.9 magnitude earthquake hit 161 km (100 mi) further north-northwest. An even stronger magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck on September 10th, 2022.

In total, 6 earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.6 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 years.

Sources

Last updated 04/12/25 19:38 (). 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.