M 7 in Papua New Guinea on 17 Jul 2020 02:50 UTC

Event summary

This earthquake can have a medium humanitarian impact based on the magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability.

GDACS ID EQ 1226659
Earthquake Magnitude: 7.0M
Depth: 79.79 Km
Lat/Lon: -7.8428 , 147.7656
Event Date: 17 Jul 2020 02:50 UTC
17 Jul 2020 12:50 Local
Exposed Population: About 19000 people in MMI
About 72000 people within 100km
Inserted at: 17 Jul 2020 03:49 UTC
INFORM Coping capacity:
7.6 (Papua New Guinea)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
  Earthquake
(Shakemap)		 Tsunami GDACS score
NEIC 1.3 0.1 1.3
us7000aq3e Scaled population (raster) 3.11 Max wave alert 0.11m  
  C1 shakemap -0.59 Max wave realtime 0.11m  
  C2 shakemap 0.53      
  Country Vulnerability 0      
  INFORM_normalised 1.3      
Maximum expected impact using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Papua New Guinea - Earthquake (ECHO 17 Jul 2020)Fri, 17 Jul 2020 13:01

  • An earthquake of 7.0 M at a depth of 80 km occurred 8 km off the southern coast of Morobe Province on 17 July. The epicentre was located offshore,  approximately 118 km north-west of Popondetta Town (Oro Province) and 127 km south-east of Wau Town (Morobe Province).
  • Tsunami Information statements have been issued indicating that no tsunami threat was present. JRC estimated a maximum tsunami wave height of 10 cm could have been generated. 
  • USGS PAGER estimates that up to 20,000 people were exposed to very strong and up to 96,000 people to strong shaking.
  • According to media, as of 7 May, some damage to the coastal villages were reported and the seismic event was felt also in the capital city, Port Moresby.
Detailed event map. European Union, 2024. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

Articles: 182 | About casualties: 0 | Last hour: 0

Woman buried by landslide after quake in PNG's Sohe districtMon, 20 Jul 2020 07:30:00 +0200.

At least one person was killed by a landslide as a result of Friday's big earthquake in Papua New Guinea. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Papua New Guinea on 17 July 2020 caused wine bottles to fall off shelves in Foodworld Waterfront in Por
...(more)
Woman buried by landslide after quake in PNG's Sohe districtMon, 20 Jul 2020 07:27:00 +0200.

At least one person was killed by a landslide as a result of Friday's big earthquake in Papua New Guinea. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Papua New Guinea on 17 July 2020 caused wine bottles to fall off shelves in Foodworld Waterfront in Por
...(more)
samoa Samoa experiences 5.3 magnitude earthquake By Adel Fruean, 19/07 ... Sun, 19 Jul 2020 11:11:00 +0200.

A 5.3 magnitude earthquake was recorded 4.32am Sunday morning in Samoa with authorities later saying it did not generate a tsunami. The Samoa Meteorology Division posted a statement on its Facebook page on Sunday to assure the public that t
...(more)
6.9 quake hits PNG; tsunami warning upSat, 18 Jul 2020 05:14:00 +0200.

SYDNEY: A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake hit eastern Papua New Guinea Friday, prompting a tsunami warning for coastal areas within 300 kilometers (180 miles). The United States Geological Survey said the quake struck at a depth of 85 kil
...(more)

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Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (91), (5), NEIC (6), OCHA (1), INGV (1), WMO (2), USGS (5), INFORM (4), NOAA (1),