Earthquakes of magnitude 7.5 and above in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands since 1990

Map of 12 locations in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands

The southwest Pacific where the Australian and Pacific plates meet produces large ruptures more often than almost anywhere else, and the record since 1990 is dense enough to follow event by event. These are the dated shocks logged in the catalogue, from offshore ruptures in the Bismarck Sea and the Solomons to deeper breaks beneath Bougainville and the Papua New Guinea highlands, with the tsunamis, damage and casualty counts as contemporary reports and archives set them down. All are historical events.

Places in this collection

  • 2022 Papua New Guinea earthquake — On 11 September 2022 the shock struck the northern part of Morobe Province, with the epicentre some 66 to 67 km from Kainantu, a town of ab…
  • 2019 Kokopo earthquake — The epicentre lay about 45 km northeast of Kokopo, in East New Britain Province, at shallow depth off the island's northeastern coast. Cont…
  • 2018 Tari earthquake — The epicentre lay in the Papua New Guinea highlands southwest of Tari, in Hela Province, a position also given as 81 km southwest of Porger…
  • 2017 Papua New Guinea earthquake — The rupture occurred at intermediate depth beneath Bougainville Island, with the epicentre placed 35 to 40 km west of the town of Panguna.…
  • 2016 New Ireland earthquake — The rupture occurred east of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea at intermediate depth, with the epicentre placed about 133 km east of Kokopo.…
  • 2016 Kirakira earthquake — The undersea shock struck in the early hours of Friday 9 December 2016, with the epicentre southwest of Kirakira, the provincial capital of…
  • May 2015 Kokopo earthquake — The epicentre lay off the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea, about 130 km south-southwest of Kokopo, five weeks after a comparable shock so…
  • March 2015 Kokopo earthquake — The rupture occurred off the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea, with the epicentre placed between 53 and 54 km southeast of Kokopo on New B…
  • 2014 Bougainville earthquake — The shock struck late on Saturday 19 April off Bougainville Island, southwest of the town of Panguna. Reported distances from Panguna diffe…
  • 2007 Solomon Islands earthquake — The rupture occurred on 2 April 2007 near Gizo, the provincial capital on Ghizo Island. The tsunami it triggered wiped out thirteen or more…
  • 2002 Wewak earthquake — The shock struck the north coast of Papua New Guinea at about 4:45 am local time on 9 September, with the epicentre placed roughly 70 km we…
  • 2000 New Ireland earthquakes — The shock struck off New Ireland in Papua New Guinea in November 2000, one of a sequence recorded in the same offshore zone. Two fatalities…

Related collections