M 5.3 Earthquake 217 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea
Areazine synthesizes this USGS earthquake report directly from USGS's official public data feed. See our methodology for full source attribution and refresh cadence.
A magnitude 5.3 mb earthquake occurred 217 km southeast of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea, at a depth of 10 km.
What this USGS earthquake report tells you, and what most readers miss
This notice was issued by USGS on August 11, 2026 and geographically references Papua New Guinea. Its severity classification of "medium" signals how the issuing agency weighs the risk of harm if no action is taken - "critical" and "high" tier alerts typically carry direct consumer actions, while "medium" and "low" tend toward informational guidance or monitoring advisories. The category it belongs to - Earthquakes - determines the monitoring protocol behind it, which shapes what follow-up action (checking for structural damage, watching for aftershocks, reviewing local building codes) is relevant and which agency holds authority over the assessment.
Most readers skim a notice like this, check whether they are personally affected, and move on. The more useful lens is to verify its scope, source, and timestamp, then compare related notices without assuming that one record proves a broader trend.
Areazine pairs this record with the original agency URL so you can check the primary source before acting. Its related labels are earthquake, seismic, usgs, Papua New Guinea.
What Happened
A magnitude 5.3 mb earthquake struck 217 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea, on 2026-07-29 at 12:06:24 UTC. The event was recorded at coordinates 5.8112°S, 153.5797°E with a depth of 10 km.
Location Details
The earthquake was centered 217 km southeast of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea. The 10 km depth classifies it as shallow (less than 20 km).
Impact Assessment
No felt reports, tsunami advisory, or alert level information is available in the source data. The tsunami status is listed as 0.
What You Should Know
This was a moderate earthquake. Shallow events of this magnitude can produce noticeable shaking but are unlikely to cause significant damage in remote areas.
Source
Original source: USGS Official Notice ↗
Related Earthquakes
All Earthquakes →Nationwide notices with similar length or severity timing 8
Two Areazine-derived peer sets for this USGS earthquake report: nearest notices by body length and by same severity near the same agency date. Peers come from other categories so they are not the same-feed Related list above.
Similar body length
Nearest notices by article body length (786 characters here).
Similar severity timing
Same severity (medium) notices issued closest in time to August 11, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this USGS earthquake report.