Mw 7.9 Bougainville Region, P.N.G.
updated 16 August 2021

On 22 January 2017 a major earthquake occurred in Bougainville Region, P.N.G. at a depth of 150 km. The seismic event occurred at 04:30:23 UTC and had an estimated moment magnitude (Mw) 7.9.

Four planetary alignments occurred in the days leading up to the earthquake, most notably Mercury-Mars-Uranus on the 17th and Mercury-Sun-Uranus on the 20th. Venus' alignment with the Sun and Saturn on the 19th should also be considered as it is the second fastest moving planet in the Solar System, which generates high amounts of energy when in alignment with outer, i.e. slow moving planets. Lunar geometry peaked significantly on the 19th, resulting in precursor activity. See the Mw 6.7 earthquake at the Solomon Islands. After the major earthquake in the Bougainville Region, no magnitude 7 or larger earthquake occurred for 175 days.

Mercury-Mars-Uranus       2017-01-17,  9:07:29   23°05'32"
Venus-Sun-Saturn          2017-01-19, 18:02:05  259°50'43"
Mercury-Sun-Uranus        2017-01-20,  5:00:08   23°19'05"
Mercury-Sun-Mars          2017-01-21, 18:04:55   28°25'45"
          
SSGI chart
SSGI depiction of planetary (PG) and lunar (LG) geometry

 

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