Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake Hit in New Britain Region, P.N.G.

- Time: 2024-05-14 at 17:15:47 UTC
             2024-05-15 at 03:15:47 Port Moresby
- Location: -5.64° LAT, 150.17° LON
- Magnitude: Mww5.6
- Depth: 109 km
- Focal mechanism: Normal Fault
- Provider: USGS, USGS_Quakes, GlobalCMT


Picture 1: Location of the magnitude 5.6 earthquake in New Britain Region, P.N.G.

The earthquake occurred due to the rotational singularity that is present in Papua New Guinea region and we posted about it on May 7, 2024. See the post here.

Rotational singularity can occur when the fault planes are "infinitely" close to each other or the theoretically infinite shear- and normal tractions are associated with finite (micro)rotations within infinitely small regions (volumes of rocks). In practice, this happens when tectonic waves with low Cosserat lengths (generally) interact with each other within a region. Its shape can be elongated (like e.g. before the Great Noto Earthquake in Japan) or circular.


Picture 2: Post about rotational singularity influencing earthquake-triggering in P.N.G.

The earthquake also occurred in an area where we announced INCREASED seismic hazard exposure (yellow alert) in our latest weekly earthquake forecast for the Indonesia region, on May 13, 2024, available here.


Picture 3: Picture showing increased hazard exposure in the region of the earthquake.

According to Quantectum’s Macroseismic Intensity map, the earthquake reached level V macroseismic intensity, associated with STRONG shaking and potential no damage to the infrastructure. The most potentially exposed cities were Kimbe (pop. 19,000) and Kandrian (pop. 1,000).


Picture 4: Macroseismic intensity map for the magnitude 5.6 earthquake in New Britain Region, P.N.G.

There have been no reports of damage, injuries, or casualties as a result of the earthquake so far and no particular alert was issued.

 

* The exact information about the magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the earthquake might be revised within the next few hours as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other data providers issue their reports.

** The information provided is a product of Quantectum's own system, please tag Quantectum when sharing it. For more detailed information, contact us by email.

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