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USGS iscgem782684

26 Jul 1971, 02:23

1971 Bougainville Earthquake

A magnitude 8.1 mw earthquake at 51.5 km depth.

Depth51.5 kmPublished hypocentral depth

Tsunami flagNot flaggedUSGS catalog flag, not a current warning

Updated19 December 2025Latest timestamp stored in this record

Published location

Where is 1971 Bougainville Earthquake?

This locator uses the coordinates in the approved source record. It shows geographic context, not a site boundary, safety zone or property-risk area.

-4.868000, 153.182000

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Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

What the numbers mean

Magnitude measures event size; depth locates the source below the surface. Neither value alone establishes local damage or personal risk.

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Nearby events with a similar magnitude

1919 Papua New Guinea Earthquake

1971 New Britain Earthquake

60 km SE of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea

56 km WSW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea

140 km E of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea

35 km WNW of Panguna, Papua New Guinea

Catalog fields and provenance

Event ID

iscgem782684

Coordinates

-4.868, 153.182

Network

iscgem

Significance

1009