May 8, 1911 Earthquake: Matupit Island, Papua New Guinea
An earthquake struck Matupit Island, Papua New Guinea on May 8, 1911. It caused a tsunami.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- May 8, 1911
- Place
- Matupit Island, Papua New Guinea
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 4.250° S, 152.250° E
- Country
- Papua New Guinea
- Region
- Central and South Pacific
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
1911, May 8. There was a strong earthquake on the coast of
Blanche Bay and on Matupi Island. There was a large number of separate shocks in the following hours. There was a tsunami (Sieberg, 1932; Iida et al., 1967). (reference #414)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #414 Soloviev, S.L., and Ch.N. Go (1974). A catalogue of tsunamis on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean [dates include 173-1968. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Nauka Publishing House, Moscow, 439 p. [Canadian Translation of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences no. 5077, 1984, translation available from Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OS2, 447 p.]
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- May 28, 1937, Keravia, Rabaul, Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
- December 22, 1983, Ulawun, Rabaul, Papua New Guinea
- January 13, 1941, Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
- November 16, 2000, New Ireland, Duke of York, Papua New Guinea
- February 4, 1878, Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
- March 10, 1989, Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- February 25, 1910, Matupi Harbor, Papua New Guinea
- December 12, 1934, Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- September 17, 1994, Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- August 13, 1967, Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
- September 10, 1900, Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
- May 14, 2019, Rabaul, Duke of York Is, Papua New Guinea
- March 29, 2015, Papua New Guinea
- January 1, 1916, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea
- July 3, 1985, Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
More
Significant earthquakes of 1911The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1911Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 6254.