An earthquake of magnitude 5.8 occurred in the evening on Sunday, August 16th, 2026, at 8:59 pm local time near Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, as reported by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).According to preliminary data, the quake was located at an intermediate depth of 124.20 km. The strength of the earthquake may have been tempered by its relative great depth below the surface, which makes it feel weaker in absolute terms. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter. Weak shaking might have been felt in Madang (pop. 27,400) located 110 km from the epicenter, Kainantu (pop. 8,500) 126 km away, and Lae (pop. 76,300) 134 km away.VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.Earthquake data: Date & time: Aug 16, 2026 10:59 am (Universal Time) local time (16 Aug 2026 10:59 GMT)Magnitude: 5.8Depth: 124.00 kmEpicenter latitude / longitude: 5.55°S / 146.72°E (Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea)Primary data source: GFZ