Quakewire
← All earthquakes
4.6MAG

LIGHT EARTHQUAKE

43 km SE of Madang, Papua New Guinea

USGS

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 43 km SE of Madang, Papua New Guinea on 16 Sept 2026, 19:37 UTC. The hypocentre was 59.9 km below the surface — shallow by seismological convention. 2 other earthquakes above our reporting threshold have been recorded within 250 km in the past 30 days.

Depth
59.9 km

shallow

Latitude
5.54°S

146.02°E longitude

Time
19:37 UTC

16 Sept 2026

Magnitude
M4.6

mb

EPICENTRE

View the official report

MAGNITUDE 4.6

Noticeable shaking of indoor objects. Damage is unlikely.

The scale is logarithmic: this released about 250 times the energy of a magnitude 3.0, roughly the energy of 120 tonnes of TNT.

59.9 KM DEEP

Shallow earthquakes release their energy close to the surface, so they are felt more strongly, and do more damage, than deeper earthquakes of the same magnitude.

NEARBY IN THE PAST 30 DAYS

2 earthquakes above our reporting threshold within 250 km of this one, the largest a magnitude 5.0.

OTHER RECENT EARTHQUAKES

M4.6 earthquake — Madang, Papua New Guinea · Quakewire