February 22, 1951 Earthquake: Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea on February 22, 1951 at 01:45:48 UTC, 25 km below the surface. 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
- February 22, 1951
- Time
- 01:45:48 UTC
- Place
- Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
- Magnitude
- 6.1 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 25 km (16 mi)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 3.252° S, 142.238° E
- Country
- Papua New Guinea
- Region
- Central and South Pacific
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million) with its tsunami and other effects
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #2666 Everingham, I.B. (1974). Large earthquakes in the New Guinea-Solomon Islands area, 1873-1972, Tectonophysics, Vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 323-338.
- #9910 Engdahl, E.R., R. van der Hilst, R. Buland (2012). Centennial Earthquake Catalog. Retrieved August 11, 2011 from link
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- July 17, 1998, Sissano, Papua New Guinea
- April 2, 2023, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea
- March 23, 2024, East Sepik, Papua New Guinea
- September 8, 2002, Kairiru Is, Muschu Is, Wewak, Papua New Guinea
- February 9, 2023, Jayapura, Irian Jaya, New Guinea, Indonesia
- January 10, 2002, Aitape, Papua New Guinea
- August 7, 1931, Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
- December 15, 1907, Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
- July 3, 1918, N Coast, Papua New Guinea
- July 29, 1917, Papua New Guinea
- September 20, 1935, N-Central, Papua New Guinea
- October 23, 1968, N Coast, Wewak, Dagua, Papua New Guinea
- November 21, 1919, Irian Jaya Region, Indonesia
More
Significant earthquakes of 1951The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1951Recent 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 7529. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event iscgem894132, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.