The 2017 Papua New Guinea earthquake was an 7.9
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...
that struck at 04:30 UTC on 22 January 2017.
Impact
Damage
Damage occurred in
Arawa and parts of central
Bougainville, while a
power outage
A power outage (also called a powercut, a power out, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, or a blackout) is the loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user.
There are many causes of power failures in an electricity ...
occurred in
Buka.
Casualties
Two children were killed and another was injured from a landslide, and a 7-year old girl died after she was hit by falling rocks. Another landslide killed two teenagers as well.
Fifteen children were injured by falling trees and rocks,
while two men were slightly injured by a landslide in
Panguna
Panguna is a town and a (now decommissioned) copper mine on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. It was owned and operated by Bougainville Copper Ltd, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto. Beginning operations in 1972, the company hired thousands of wor ...
.
See also
*
List of earthquakes in 2017
This is a list of earthquakes in 2017. Only earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are included, unless they result in damage and/or casualties, or are notable for some other reason. All dates are listed according to UTC time. Maximum intensiti ...
*
List of earthquakes in Papua New Guinea
Earthquakes in Papua New Guinea are due to its location near the geologically-active Pacific Ring of Fire. Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are a mix of vulnerable and earthquake resistant construction. The predomin ...
*
2016 Solomon Islands earthquakes
References
{{earthquake-stub
2017 earthquakes
2017 in Papua New Guinea
2017 in the Solomon Islands
Earthquakes in Papua New Guinea
Earthquakes in the Solomon Islands
January 2017 events in Oceania
2017 disasters in Papua New Guinea