August 16, 1995 Earthquake: Rabaul, Kokopo, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck Rabaul, Kokopo, New Britain, Papua New Guinea on August 16, 1995 at 10:27:28 UTC, 30 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
- August 16, 1995
- Time
- 10:27:28 UTC
- Place
- Rabaul, Kokopo, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- Magnitude
- 7.7 (Mw)
- Focal depth
- 30 km (19 mi)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 5.799° S, 154.178° E
- Country
- Papua New Guinea
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 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.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Only minor damage was reported, five landslides cut off the Rabaul/Kokopo road and one landslide occurred at the Blue Lagoon on the island of New Britain (this landslide may have generated a tsunami in the lagoon). (reference #2278)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- January 30, 1939, Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea
- July 14, 1971, Bougainville, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
- January 22, 2017, Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea
- April 29, 1996, Bougainville Island, Solomon Islands
- April 11, 2014, Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea
- October 19, 1949, Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
- June 23, 2009, Solomon Sea, Papua New Guinea
- May 30, 1913, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea
- February 12, 1968, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
- May 6, 1919, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea
- March 18, 1983, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
- November 2, 1923, Bismarck Archipelago, Papua New Guinea
- July 20, 1975, Bougainville, Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
- November 16, 2000, New Ireland, New Britain, Papua New Guinea
- April 19, 2014, Solomon Sea, Papua New Guinea
More
Significant earthquakes of 1995The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1995Recent 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 5417.