Moderate yet deep magnitude 5.1 earthquake 47 km north of Lae, Papua New Guinea
5.1 quake 18 Mar 10:18 am (GMT +10)

An earthquake of magnitude 5.1 occurred in the morning on Monday, March 18th, 2024, at 10:18 am local time near Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, as reported by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency.
According to preliminary data, the quake was located at an intermediate depth of 139 km. The strength of the earthquake may have been tempered by its relative great depth below the surface, which makes it feel weaker in absolute terms. 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 the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) which listed the quake at magnitude 5.2.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Lae (pop. 76,300) located 47 km from the epicenter, Bulolo (pop. 16,000) 106 km away, Wau (pop. 14,600) 118 km away, and Kainantu (pop. 8,500) 119 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.


Earthquake data:
Date & time: Mar 18, 2024 10:18 am (Port Moresby time) local time (18 Mar 2024 00:18 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.1
Depth: 139.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 6.3°S / 146.94°E (Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea)
Primary data source: BMKG
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