| Magnitude | 5.0 |
| Alert | Strong |
| Depth | 38.0 km |
| Coordinates | -6.524, 154.644 |
| UTC time | 1981-03-20 03:45:34.840 |
Earthquake details
Friday, March 20, 1981 Earthquake
The earthquake hit Papua New Guinea on Friday, March 20, 1981 at 03:45 UTC with a magnitude of 5.0. The closest known location in the current dataset is Arawa (Papua New Guinea - PG), about 107.1 km away. The epicenter is located at longitude 154.644 and latitude -6.524.
| Location | Arawa |
| Country | Papua New Guinea (PG) |
| Severity | Strong |
Earthquake map 1981-03-20
Closest countries
The 12 closest cities near the epicenter.
| Arawa | 107.1 km |
| Honiara | 668.6 km |
| Lae | 846.0 km |
| Port Moresby | 888.9 km |
| Mount Hagen | 1154.8 km |
| Cairns | 1507.8 km |
| Merauke | 1586.5 km |
| Jayapura | 1607.6 km |
| Abepura | 1614.8 km |
| Townsville | 1652.9 km |
| Mackay | 1732.2 km |
| Wamena | 1760.5 km |
Nearby earthquakes
The latest 8 earthquakes within 100 km of this epicenter.
M 5.1
Arawa
Papua New Guinea · 2026-06-24 06:17 UTC
65.4 km
M 4.6
Arawa
Papua New Guinea · 2026-06-17 17:30 UTC
20.0 km
M 4.7
Arawa
Papua New Guinea · 2026-03-06 19:03 UTC
54.8 km
M 4.9
Arawa
Papua New Guinea · 2026-02-22 09:29 UTC
134.6 km
M 4.4
Arawa
Papua New Guinea · 2026-02-17 03:06 UTC
64.7 km
M 4.2
Arawa
Papua New Guinea · 2026-01-19 07:07 UTC
36.9 km
M 4.3
Arawa
Papua New Guinea · 2026-01-12 16:24 UTC
113.4 km
M 4.4
Arawa
Papua New Guinea · 2025-12-19 23:07 UTC
61.0 km
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