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Papua New Guinea earthquakes in 1949

9 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more were located in Papua New Guinea in 1949. The largest: M7.2 155 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea, Oct 20, 1949.

From the USGS catalog. Times are local to each quake.

19481950

Map

Where every quake of 1949 was located in Papua New Guinea. Select one for its page.

Open the live map with earthquakes

Every quake of 1949

Magnitude 4.5 and up, newest first.

Month by month

Counted by UTC date, which is how the catalog files them.

MonthQuakesLargestWhere
January 194916.2116 km SSE of Kavieng, Papua New Guinea
February 19490
March 194926.8128 km SSW of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
April 19490
May 19490
June 19490
July 19490
August 194916.4245 km NNW of Lorengau, Papua New Guinea
September 194926.2117 km W of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
October 194937.2155 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea
November 19490
December 19490

What this means

The catalog is only as complete as the instruments of the time. Worldwide coverage of magnitude 5 and up dates from the 1960s, and of 4.5 from the 1990s; earlier years hold the large quakes and the ones near a station, so a low count in an early year means fewer instruments, not a quiet earth.

By year

Every year the USGS catalog covers.

Nearby

Papua New Guinea nowWorldwide in 1949

Sources

Earthquakes, magnitudes, depths, shaking estimates and felt reports from the U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program, read from its live feeds and its catalog back to 1900. Tsunami messages from NOAA’s tsunami warning centers.