M 5.5 in Papua New Guinea on 16 Aug 2026 10:59 UTC

Event summary

This earthquake can have a low humanitarian impact based on the magnitude and the affected population and their vulnerability.

GDACS ID EQ 1558930
Earthquake Magnitude: 5.5M
Depth: 147.7 Km
Lat/Lon: -5.5432 , 146.7882
Event Date: 16 Aug 2026 10:59 UTC
16 Aug 2026 20:59 Local
Exposed Population: 2.1 million in MMI>=III
Inserted at: 17 Aug 2026 21:17 UTC
INFORM Coping capacity:
1.1 (Papua New Guinea)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
  Earthquake
(Shakemap)		 GDACS score
NEIC 0 0
usd0015e7p Scaled population (raster) 0  
  C1 shakemap 0  
  C2 shakemap 0  
  Country Vulnerability 0  
  INFORM_normalised 0  
Maximum expected impact using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Detailed event map. European Union, 2026. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

Nuovo terremoto di magnitudo 6.1 in Indonesia, epicentro in mare al la.. 8/18/2026 8:53:00 AM.

(BMKG), l''epicentro è stato registrato in mare, a circa 147 km a sud-est di Nias Selatan, situata nella provincia di Sumatra Settentrionale L''ipocentro, invece, è stato rilevato a 29 km di profondità. Il sisma è stato avvertito distintam
...(more)
Indonesia: Over 8,000 Children Face Disruptions To Education Following.. 8/17/2026 12:34:00 AM.

Around 50 people have died, although casualties are likely to rise, and thousands have been displaced following the earthquake. While the full extent of the destruction is still unfolding, more than 900 homes were damaged by the quake and h
...(more)
Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake Strikes Off Papua New Guinea''s Coast — Seism.. 8/16/2026 12:02:00 PM.

MOSCOW, August 16 (RIA Novosti) - A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck off the coast of Papua New Guinea, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said on Sunday. The earthquake was recorded at 10:59 UTC (10:59 GMT) 438 kilometer
...(more)
Urgent: 5.8-magnitude quake hits Papua New Guinea Region -- GFZ 8/16/2026 11:37:00 AM.

BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8 jolted Papua New Guinea Region at 1059 GMT on Sunday, the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences said. The epicenter, with a depth of 124.2 km, was initially determined
...(more)

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Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (48), NEIC (4), OCHA (1), WMO (1), USGS (5), (2), INFORM (2),