M5.4 earthquake 261 km NW of Kiunga, Papua New Guinea

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck 261 km NW of Kiunga, Papua New Guinea on Tue, Jan 20, 1981, 1:54 AM GMT+9 (16:54 UTC), 33 km (21 mi) below the surface.

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The earthquake

Magnitude: 5.4 (mb), moderate
Local time: Tue, Jan 20, 1981, 1:54 AM GMT+9
UTC: 1981-01-19 16:54:00 UTC
Depth: 33.0 km (20.5 mi), shallow
Epicenter: 4.705° S, 139.402° 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: 65

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.4 and up: 19 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.

After

Before

6.7268 km SW of Abepura, IndonesiaTue, Jan 20, 12:11 AM GMT+9 · 16682 days ago · 33 km deep · 24 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001btb (also filed as iscgem632894). Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 10:31 PM UTC.