M5.9 Earthquake near Bismarck Sea — October 8, 2023
2023-10-08 18:07:39 UTC (2023-10-08) · approx. 4:07 AM UTC+10 local
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On October 8, 2023 at 18:07 UTC, a magnitude 5.9 shallow crustal earthquake struck near Bismarck Sea, at a depth of 7.0 km and coordinates -3.1582°, 148.4386°.0 The USGS PAGER system issued a green alert level for this event, indicating no significant casualties or damage expected. This earthquake was detected by 119 seismic stations with excellent location accuracy and was assigned a USGS significance rating of 536, placing it among routine seismic activity. The nearest populated place is Lorengau (population 5,806).
Physical scale: An earthquake of magnitude 5.9 releases seismic energy equivalent to roughly 11 kilotons of TNT. Empirical fault-scaling laws (Wells & Coppersmith, 1994) estimate the subsurface rupture length at approximately 7.1 km — a useful intuition for the size of the slip patch on the fault.
Nearest Populated Places
ShakeMap — predicted shaking intensity
Modeled ground-motion intensity contoured on the Modified Mercalli scale (MMI). Computed by the USGS from the moment-tensor solution and regional ground-motion prediction equations.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey ShakeMap. View interactive ShakeMap on USGS
Did You Feel It? — community-reported shaking
Aggregated felt-report intensity from submitted citizen responses to the USGS Did You Feel It? system. Each colored zone represents the average MMI from reports in that area.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey Did You Feel It?. View on USGS · submit your own report
Population exposure (USGS PAGER)
Estimated population that experienced each level of shaking. Based on the USGS PAGER rapid impact assessment, which combines ShakeMap output with global population grids.
| Shaking intensity (MMI) | Description | Population exposed |
|---|---|---|
| MMI 3 | weak | 79,822 |
| MMI 4 | light | 5,302 |
Earthquake Details
148.4386°E
Technical Information
Nearby Earthquakes (Last 7 Days)
Common Questions
How strong was the magnitude 5.9 earthquake near Bismarck Sea?
The magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck near Bismarck Sea on October 8, 2023 at 18:07 UTC had a depth of 7.0 km. For context, this was a moderate earthquake that could be widely felt.
Where did the earthquake occur?
The earthquake epicenter was located at -3.1582°, 148.4386°, which is near Bismarck Sea. The nearest populated place is Lorengau (population 5,806).
Were there aftershocks?
Aftershock activity is monitored continuously by the USGS. Aftershock sequences from magnitude 5.9 earthquakes can continue for days to weeks and gradually diminish over time.
Actions
Authoritative source: USGS event page (event ID: us6000le27). All scientific values on this page are sourced verbatim from the USGS feed.
Cite this page: EarthquakeTracker.org. (2023, October 8, 2023). M5.9 Earthquake near Bismarck Sea — October 8, 2023. Retrieved December 16, 2023 from https://www.earthquaketracker.org/earthquakes/event/us6000le27/