49 km NNE of Kainantu, Papua New Guinea

49 days ago

USGS

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 49 km NNE of Kainantu, Papua New Guinea on 20 Sept 2026, 09:17 UTC. The hypocentre was 104.3 km below the surface — intermediate by seismological convention. No felt reports have been received so far. The figures have been revised 12 times since the first report. 5 other earthquakes above our reporting threshold have been recorded within 250 km in the past 30 days.

Depth: 104.3 km
Latitude: 5.90°S
Time: 09:17 UTC
Magnitude: M6.4

EPICENTRE

View the official report↗

MAGNITUDE 6.4

Can be destructive in populated areas up to about 160 km across.

The scale is logarithmic: this released about 130 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0, roughly the energy of 60 thousand tonnes of TNT.

104.3 KM DEEP

At this depth the energy spreads before it reaches the surface. Shaking is usually weaker than a shallow earthquake of the same size, but it can be felt across a wider area.