July 5, 1988 Earthquake: Kandrian, Arawe, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Kandrian, Arawe, New Britain, Papua New Guinea on July 5, 1988 at 20:32:07 UTC, 53 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
- July 5, 1988
- Time
- 20:32:07 UTC
- Place
- Kandrian, Arawe, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- Magnitude
- 6.8 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 53 km (33 mi)
- Intensity
- 5 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 5.964° S, 148.780° E
- Country
- Papua New Guinea
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
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.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- April 1, 2002, Morobe, Papua New Guinea
- February 8, 1987, Huon Peninsula, Umboi Island, Papua New Guinea
- October 16, 1987, Kandrian, Kimbte, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- May 6, 1947, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- May 12, 1938, Papua New Guinea
- September 14, 1906, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- December 28, 1945, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- October 19, 1899, Bismrack Sea, Papua New Guinea
- September 17, 1900, Rabaul Harbor, Papua New Guinea
- October 11, 1913, Papua New Guinea
- February 2, 1920, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- 1875, Maclay Coast, Papua New Guinea
More
Significant earthquakes of 1988The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1988Recent 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 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 5162.