On 26 February 2018, at 3:44 a.m. local time (25 February, 17:44 UTC), an earthquake of 7.5 moment magnitude struck in Hela Province, Papua New Guinea. The earthquake's epicenter was west of the town of Komo. The intensity of the earthquake was IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale. At least 31 people were killed and a further 300 were injured.
The main shock struck at a depth of 35 km below the northern slopes of Mt. Sisa, and was followed by a 5.5 Mw aftershock less than 30 minutes later.
A state of emergency was declared on March 1 for the provinces of Hela, Southern Highlands, Enga and Western, together with a promise of 450 million kina (about 136 million US$) to help deal with the aftermath of the quake.