M5.3 earthquake 81 km NNE of Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 81 km NNE of Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea at 09:30 local time (23:30 UTC) on 25 Sept 2026, at a depth of 69 km, according to USGS and GFZ.

Reported by 2 agencies · revised from M5.2

Data: USGS, GFZ · updated 2026-10-12 04:42 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude: 5.3moderate
moment magnitude (W phase) (mww)
revised from 5.2
Depth: 68.8 km
Status: Reviewed
Origin time: 2026-09-24 23:30:29 UTC; Local: 25 Sept 2026, 09:30:29 (Pacific/Port Moresby)
Epicentre: 6.111° S, 147.405° E

Circles show this event and others within 56 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map

Nearby places

Distance and estimated shaking at nearby places
Place	Distance	Est. shaking
LaeMorobe Province, Papua New Guinea · pop. 76,255	81 km	IIIWeak
BuloloMorobe Province, Papua New Guinea · pop. 16,042	148 km	IIIWeak
Port MoresbyNational Capital, Papua New Guinea · pop. 283,733	376 km	INot felt

Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more. Likely felt out to about 162 km.

Every agency's solution

Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS, which has been reviewed by an analyst.

Agency	Magnitude	Depth	Epicentre	Time offset	Status
GFZGFZ via GEOFON, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences	5.2 Mw	42 km	6.07° S, 147.41° E	−2.7 s	Automatic
USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey	5.3 mww	68.8 km	6.11° S, 147.40° E	–	Reviewed · 1 revision

How big was it?

Felt by most people over a wide area. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre.

It released roughly the energy of 1.3 kt of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 69 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.

Compare M5.3 with M4.3

M5.3 releases about 32× the energy of M4.3, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 1.3 kt of TNT vs 43 t of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M4.3. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

1 later earthquake within 56 km; the largest was M4.6 8 days ago. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M5.3

1 later earthquake nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)	Magnitude	Depth (km)
209.90	4.6	82

4.677 km NNE of Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea10-03 17:24

Did you feel it?

Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.

Reports close 14 days after an earthquake.

Reports on SeismoAtlas

No reports yet.

Event id gfz2026stui. First recorded here 28 Sept 2026, 17:32:06 UTC. Solutions: GFZ (geofon:gfz2026stui); USGS (usgs:us6000txhp). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M5.3 earthquake 81 km NNE of Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/gfz2026stui-m5-3-earthquake-81-km-nne-of-lae-morobe-province-papua-new-guinea, data from USGS, GFZ.

JSON: /api/v1/events/gfz2026stui. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.