Significant 6.5 quake hits near Madang, Madang Province, Papua New Guinea

The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported a magnitude 6.5 quake in Papua New Guinea near Madang, Madang Province, only 8 minutes ago. The earthquake hit in the afternoon on Tuesday, January 20th, 2026, at 5:21 pm local time at an intermediate depth of 78. km. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency, which listed it as a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 6.5, and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 6.5.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should have been widely felt by almost everyone in the area of the epicenter. It might have caused light to moderate damage.
Moderate shaking probably occurred in Madang (pop. 27,400) located 27 km from the epicenter.
In Goroka (pop. 18,500) located 103 km from the epicenter, and Kundiawa (pop. 9,400) 133 km away, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.


Earthquake data:
Date & time: Jan 20, 2026 05:21 pm (Port Moresby time) local time (20 Jan 2026 07:21 GMT)
Magnitude: 6.5
Depth: 78.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 5.38°S / 145.98°E (Papua New Guinea)
Primary data source: EMSC
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquake/news/292421/Significant-65-quake-hits-near-Madang-Madang-Province-Papua-New-Guinea.html