M 5.3 - 72 km NW of Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake was recorded by USGS near 72 km NW of Finschhafen. On the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program scale, M5.3 is classified "Moderate". Among the 1,834 earthquake reports Areazine has published, this M5.3 event ranks stronger than 80% of them (rank #270 by magnitude).
30 seconds on this earthquake report
- Magnitude
- M 5.3
- USGS class
- Moderate
- Location
- 72 km NW of Finschhafen
- Archive rank
- #270 of 1,834
- Source
- USGS
- Published
- September 24, 2026
Sits above 80% of the 1,834 earthquakes in the archive by magnitude; 269 ran stronger.
Record status: USGS's reading at the moment of detection — the agency keeps revising magnitude, aftershock counts, and felt reports on its own event page as more data arrives.
What Happened
A M 5.3 mww earthquake occurred 72 km NW of Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea, on 2026-09-23 at 12:50:28 UTC. The event was recorded at a depth of 53.586 km.
Location Details
The epicenter was located at latitude -6.0863, longitude 147.3935. This places the quake 72 km northwest of Finschhafen. The depth of 53.586 km classifies it as an intermediate-depth earthquake (20-70 km).
Impact Assessment
No felt reports were recorded. There was no tsunami advisory (tsunami field = 0) and no alert level assigned.
What You Should Know
This was a moderate earthquake. Such events can cause damage to poorly constructed buildings. Aftershocks are possible following any earthquake.
Source
Data from USGS: https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000txhp
Original source: USGS Official Notice ↗
Related Earthquakes
All Earthquakes →Comparable nationwide notices (length or severity timing) 8
Beyond this USGS earthquake report's own category, Areazine surfaces two nationwide peer sets: length-matched and severity/date-matched notices from elsewhere in the archive, distinct from the same-feed Related list above.
Similar body length
Nearest notices by article body length (787 characters here).
Similar severity timing
Same severity (medium) notices issued closest in time to September 24, 2026.
What People Ask
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