Significant 5.3 quake hits near Lae, Morobe, Papua New Guinea

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake near Lae, Morobe, Papua New Guinea, was reported only 10 minutes ago by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), considered one of the key international agencies that monitor seismic activity worldwide. The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 10 km beneath the epicenter in the afternoon on Monday, January 13th, 2025, at 5:08 pm local time. 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.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency which listed the quake at magnitude 5.2. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 5.3, and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) at magnitude 5.3.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc.
In Lae (pop. 76,300) located 49 km from the epicenter, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Bulolo (pop. 16,000) located 108 km from the epicenter, Wau (pop. 14,600) 120 km away, and Kainantu (pop. 8,500) 121 km away.
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 13, 2025 05:07 pm (Port Moresby time) local time (13 Jan 2025 07:07 GMT)
Magnitude: 5.4
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 6.05°S / 147.1°E (Morobe, Papua New Guinea)
Primary data source: GFZ
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquake/news/262209/Significant-53-quake-hits-near-Lae-Morobe-Papua-New-Guinea.html