New Britain, PNG Earthquake 7/8

Very Strong dangerous earthquake below New Britain, Papua New Guinea

Last update: July 7, 2013 at 10:10 pm by By

Update 22:06 UTC : Landslides ara a real risk in this mountainous rain forest region.  The is a road connecting the epicenter area with the bigger towns to the north, but we think that this is a dirt road which will be probably severely damaged by landslides. Most of the populated locations in the area are tribal settlements who are living in wooden houses. these houses have a high degree of resistance against earthquakes.

Update 22:02 UTC : The image below shows the number of people living near the (USGS) epicenter.  Due to the depth of at least 50 km of the hypocenter, we believe that the strongest shaking will have taken place in a radius of 40 km and that there will be only a limited difference in shaking with this radius.

Image courtesy Gdacs

Image courtesy Gdacs

Update 21:57 UTC : Shaking intensities based on theoretical models and on the Magnitude and depth as provided by USGS :
MMI VI  (strong shaking)   Kandrian    1k
V    (Moderate shaking) Kimbe    19k
IV    (Light shaking) Finschhafen    1k
IV    Lae    76k
IV    Popondetta    28k
IV    Kokoda    6k
IV    Kokopo    26k

One earthquake was not enough for Papua New Guinea today. After the massive very deep earthquake East of New Ireland, another very strong earthquake hit New Britain. The seismological agencies are reporting a depth of 50 to 80 km, which is a big difference in damage risk.  USGS reporting a depth of 50 km is mentioning a MMI VII, very strong shaking in the epicenter area.

Screen Shot 2013-07-07 at 23.52.38

  1. 30km (19mi) NE of Kandrian, Papua New Guinea
  2. 68km (42mi) SW of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : 6.6

Local Time (conversion only below land) : 2013-07-08 06:30:04

GMT/UTC Time : 2013-07-07 20:30:04

Depth (Hypocenter)  : 80 km

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2013/07/07/very-strong-earthquake-new-britain-region-p-n-g-on-july-7-2013/