M5.2 earthquake 23 km SSW of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 23 km SSW of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea on Wed, Apr 12, 1978, 2:01 AM GMT+9 (17:01 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.2 (mb), moderate
- Local time
- UTC
- 1978-04-11 17:01:31 UTC
- Depth
- 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 2.874° S, 141.207° E
- Region
- Papua New Guinea
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- OPERATOR_ASSIGNED
- Stations used
- 64
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 2 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.839 km WSW of Vanimo, Papua New Guinea · 17696 days ago · 33 km deep · 22 km away
- 4.366 km WSW of Aitape, Papua New Guinea · 17682 days ago · 133 km deep · 78 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayPapua New Guinea earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000u1a (also filed as iscgem683614). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 10:17 AM UTC.