On 7th July 2013 earthquake northeast of Papua New Guinea occurred as a result of normal faulting approximately 380 km deep within the subducted Australia Plate. 200 km to the south of this event, the Australia Plate subducts beneath the Pacific plate at the New Britain Trench, moving towards the north-northeast at a speed of 103 mm/yr.
The depth and fault mechanism of the July 7th earthquake are consistent with the events resulting from the internal (intraplate) deformation of the subducted slab, rather than as an interplate event on the shallow plate boundary interface. Crustal tectonics of the New Britain region are commonly described in terms of relative-motions of microplates that are situated at the boundary of the Australia and Pacific plates. The New Britain Trench region is familiar with large earthquakes; this subduction zone is one of the most seismically active regions in the world.
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