Contact | RSS | EN | DE | EL | ES | FR | IT | RU

Moderate mag. 5.2 earthquake - 69 km south of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea, on Friday, May 26, 2023 at 12:08 pm (GMT +10) -

I felt this quake
Moderate mag. 5.2 earthquake - 69 km south of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea, on Friday, May 26, 2023 at 12:08 pm (GMT +10) Moderate mag. 5.2 earthquake - 69 km south of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea, on Friday, May 26, 2023 at 12:08 pm (GMT +10)

Moderate magnitude 5.2 earthquake at 41 km depth

26 May 02:25 UTC: First to report: USGS after 17 minutes.
Update Fri, 26 May 2023, 02:33

Magnitude 5.2 earthquake strikes near Kimbe, Talasea District, West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea

5.2 quake 26 May 12:08 pm (GMT +10)
5.2 quake 26 May 12:08 pm (GMT +10)
Papua New Guinea was shaken near Kimbe, Talasea District, West New Britain Province, by an earthquake of magnitude 5.2 only 25 minutes ago, the United States Geological Survey reported.
The quake hit at a moderately shallow depth of 41.3 km beneath the epicenter near Kimbe, Talasea District, West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, around noon on Friday, May 26th, 2023, at 12:08 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from Geoscience Australia (GeoAu) which listed the quake at magnitude 5.0. A third agency, the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake, reported the same quake at magnitude 5.2.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Kandrian (pop. 1000) located 49 km from the epicenter, and Kimbe (pop. 18,800) 69 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

If you were or still are in this area during the quake help others with your feedback and report it here.
Download the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app and get one of the fastest seismic alerts online: Android | iOS
I felt this quake
I didn't feel it

Earthquake details

Date & timeMay 26, 2023 02:08:00 UTC -
Local time at epicenterFriday, May 26, 2023 at 12:08 pm (GMT +10)
StatusConfirmed
Magnitude5.2
Depth41.3 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude6.1506°S / 149.9912°E (West New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea)
Antipode6.151°N / 30.009°W
Shaking intensityLight shaking near epicenter
Felt0 reports
Primary data sourceUSGS (United States Geological Survey)
Nearest volcanoGarbuna (78 km / 48 mi)
Nearby towns and cities49 km (31 mi) E of Kandrian (West New Britain) (pop: 1,010) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
69 km (43 mi) SSW of Kimbe (Talasea District, West New Britain) (pop: 18,800) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
323 km (200 mi) SW of Kokopo (East New Britain) (pop: 26,300) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
337 km (209 mi) E of Lae (Morobe) (pop: 76,300) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
350 km (217 mi) NNE of Popondetta (Sohe, Northern Province) (pop: 28,200) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
385 km (239 mi) ENE of Wau (Morobe) (pop: 14,600) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
388 km (241 mi) ENE of Bulolo (Morobe) (pop: 16,000) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
485 km (301 mi) NE of Port Moresby (National Capital) (pop: 283,700) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
Weather at epicenter at time of quakeLight Rain 27°C (81 F), humidity: 82%, wind: 1 m/s (2 kts) from S
Estimated seismic energy released4 x 1012 joules (1.11 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 951 tons of TNT) | about seismic energy
Show interactive Map
[smaller] [bigger]
If you felt this quake (or if you were near the epicenter), please share your experience and submit a short "I felt it" report! Other users would love to hear about it!
If you did NOT feel the quake although you were in the area, please report it! Your contribution is valuable to earthquake science, seismic hazard analysis and mitigation efforts. You can use your device location or the map to indicate where you were during the earthquake. Thank you!

Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
Mag.DepthLocationSource
5.241 kmNew Britain Region, Papua New GuineaUSGS
5.241 kmPapua New Guinea: New Britain Region, P.N.G.RaspberryShake
5.153 kmNew Britain Region, Papua New GuineaGeoAu
5.210 kmPapua New Guinea: New Britain Region, P.N.G.IRIS
5.110 kmNew Britain Region, Papua New GuineaGFZ
5.244 kmPapua New Guinea: NEW BRITAIN REGION, P.N.G.EMSC

User reports for this quake

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
There are no user reports for this quake yet. If you felt it be the first to report it!

Aftershocks

[More info]

Recorded aftershocks, latest first (0 quake) (so far, frequently updated)

So far, no aftershocks have been registered.

Earlier earthquakes in the same area

Try our free app!
Volcanoes & Earthquakes - new app for Android
Android | iOS version

Support us - Help us upgrade our services!

We truly love working to bring you the latest volcano and earthquake data from around the world. Maintaining our website and our free apps does require, however, considerable time and resources.
We need financing to increase hard- and software capacity as well as support our editor team. We're aiming to achieve uninterrupted service wherever an earthquake or volcano eruption unfolds, and your donations can make it happen! Every donation will be highly appreciated. If you find the information useful and would like to support our team in integrating further features, write great content, and in upgrading our soft- and hardware, please make a donation (PayPal or Online credit card payment).

Planned features:
  • Improved multilanguage support
  • Tsunami alerts
  • Faster responsiveness
Thanks to your past donations, these features have been added recently:
  • Design upgrade
  • Detailed quake stats
  • Additional seismic data sources
Download and Upgrade the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online:
Android | IOS
Thank you!
Stop Russia's Agression - Support Ukraine
Significant parts of this website use brilliant open-source software developed by Ukrainians. Russia's unprovoked war has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and the beautiful country of Ukraine is being destroyed. We cannot be silent even if the topic of this website has nothing to do with politics.
If you like to support Ukraine from abroad:
Ukrainians recommend the Come Back Alive charity. For other options, see StandWithUkraine.
Sources: VolcanoDiscovery / VolcanoAdventures and other sources as noted.
Use of material: Most text and images on our websites are owned by us. Re-use is generally not permitted without authorization. Contact us for licensing rights.
Volcanoes & Earthquakes
VolcanoDiscovery Home
Volcanoes | Earthquakes | Photos | Volcano News | App
Adventure & Study Travel
Tours to Volcanoes and Volcanic Areas: walking tours, photo tours, study tours
Tours & Dates | FAQ | About us
Get our newsletter!
Company info
Contact | Legal info | Terms & conditions
Follow us
Follow us on facebook Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Twitter Visit our Youtube channel
EN | DE | EL | ES | FR | IT | RU
VolcanoDiscovery GmbH, Germany, Reg. nr.: HRB 103744, EU Tax Id: DE 310 395 322 owned and created by
Dr. Tom Pfeiffer, volcanologist, volcano photographer, tour organizer member of
IAVCEI
Volcanological Society
Ecotourism Greece
Insured by R+V
VolcanoDiscovery © 2004- All Rights Reserved | Privacy - cookie settings