M6.1 earthquake near Port Moresby, National Capital

What happened

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 79 km SSE of Kokoda, Papua New Guinea on 9 Mar 1979, 01:26 UTC at a depth of 33 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Strong. Can cause damage in populated areas up to tens of kilometres away. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Port Moresby, about 89 km away in National Capital, Papua New Guinea.