Mw 7.9 New Ireland Region, P.N.G.

On 17 December 2016 a major earthquake occurred in New Ireland Region, P.N.G. at a depth of 83 km. The seismic event occurred at 10:51:09 UTC and had an estimated moment magnitude (Mw) 7.9.

December 2016 — starting on the 6th — was considered very critical due to an unusual number of planetary alignments. From the 6th to the 30th fifteen alignments occurred, which is an average of one alignment per less than two days.

The major earthquake on 17 December 2016 was preceded by five alignments starting on the 12th. Every alignment involved either Mercury or Venus in combination with one of the outer planets Mars, Jupiter and Uranus. Especially Sun-Mercury-Uranus on the 16th was a key contributor. Lunar geometry peaked 12 at the time of the Sun-Mercury-Mars alignment on the 12th and again on the 15th and into the 16th following the Sun-Venus-Uranus alignment. After the Mw 7.8 earthquake at the Solomon Islands on the 8th, this was the second major earthquake. While already well above average occurrence, a third major earthquake (Mw 7.6) occurred on the 25th.

Note: WPG analysis is not included in this report.

Sun-Mercury-Mars          2016-12-12, 21:31:17    4°09'49"
Mercury-Sun-Jupiter       2016-12-13, 22:30:43  189°20'10"
Sun-Venus-Uranus          2016-12-15,  6:32:25   22°55'44"
Sun-Mercury-Uranus        2016-12-16, 12:47:34   22°56'33"
Sun-Mercury-Venus         2016-12-17,  1:09:06   25°45'49"
Mercury-Venus-Uranus      2016-12-18, 22:40:38   22°44'59"
          

SSGI depiction of planetary (PG) and lunar (LG) geometry