October 10, 1955 Earthquake: Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea on October 10, 1955 at 08:57:52 UTC, 35 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
- October 10, 1955
- Time
- 08:57:52 UTC
- Place
- Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
- Magnitude
- 7.3 (Mw)
- Magnitude scales
- Mw 7.3 · Ms 7.3
- Focal depth
- 35 km (22 mi)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 5.100° S, 152.924° E
- Country
- Papua New Guinea
- Region
- Central and South Pacific
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
Mw: moment magnitude, based on the slip on the fault and the area that slipped. Ms: surface-wave magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.
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.
1955 Oct. 10, 08:57:52.65, 5.1 S 152.924 E, 35 depth, 7.3 Mw (reference #9910)
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.
- #88 Duda, Seweryn J. (1965). Secular seismic energy release in the circum-Pacific belt. Tectonophysics, vol. 2, no. 5, p. 409-452. DOI:10.1016/0040-1951(65)90035-1
- #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.
- 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
- July 14, 1971, Bougainville, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
- November 16, 2000, New Ireland, Duke of York, Papua New Guinea
- March 10, 1989, Rabaul, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- February 4, 1878, Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
- March 6, 1938, Papua New Guinea
- November 16, 2000, New Ireland, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- June 22, 1768, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
- July 26, 1971, Bismarck Sea Rabaul, Papua New Guinea
- July 13, 2017, Papua New Guinea
- February 12, 1968, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
- March 29, 2015, Papua New Guinea
- January 1, 1916, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea
More
Significant earthquakes of 1955The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1955Recent 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 6372. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event iscgem889990, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.