The May 5, 2015 M 7.5 earthquake south-southwest of Kokopo, Papua New Guinea, occurred as the result of thrust faulting on or near the plate boundary interface between the subducting Australia plate and overriding Pacific plate. At the location of the earthquake, the Australia plate moves towards the east-northeast at the velocity of 105 mm/yr with respect to the Pacific plate, and begins its subduction into the mantle beneath New Britain at the New Britain Trench, south-southeast of the earthquake.
The moment tensor and depth of the event are consistent with thrust-type motion on the interface between these two plates. Note that at the location of the earthquake, some researchers divide the edges of the Australia and Pacific plates into several microplates that take up the overall convergence between Australia and the Pacific, including the Solomon Sea and South Bismark microplates local to this event. The Solomon Sea plate moves slightly faster and more northeasterly with respect to the Pacific plate than does Australia due to sea-floor spreading in the Woodlark Basin several hundred kilometers to the southeast of the May 5 earthquake, facilitating the classic subduction evident beneath New Britain. Events of the magnitude of the May 5, 2015 earthquake are typically about 70 * 40 km in size (length * width).
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