Mw 6.6 New Britain Region, P.N.G.

On 26 March 2018 a strong earthquake occurred in New Britain Region, P.N.G. at a depth of 55 km. The seismic event occurred at 09:51:01 UTC and had an estimated moment magnitude (Mw) 6.6.

It was the second strong earthquake following the planetary alignments from 23 to 25 March, with emphasis on both the Mercury-Venus-Uranus and the Mercury-Sun-Neptune alignment, both of which having the potential to cause very strong seismic activity, high 6 to 7 magnitude. The strong earthquake on the 26th was followed by a major earthquake in the region on the 29th.

Venus-Sun-Jupiter         2018-03-23,  4:14:23  224°30'43"
Mercury-Venus-Uranus      2018-03-25,  9:54:10   27°14'10"
Mercury-Sun-Neptune       2018-03-25, 20:47:18  343°49'04"

Moon-Earth-Mars           2018-03-24, 15:20:06  273°41'58"
Moon-Earth-Saturn         2018-03-24, 23:21:25  278°25'29"
          

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