Reviewed by USGSIndonesia119y ago
M6.5 earthquake 182 km NNW of Tobelo, Indonesia
Sunday, April 25, 1909, 22:35:50 UTC · 3.117°N, 127.123°E
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 182 km NNW of Tobelo, Indonesia on Sunday, April 25, 1909, 22:35:50 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.5 on June 25, 1907.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
85 kilotons of TNT
That is about 6 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 178 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
86 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Birds Head plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
35 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 2 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,840 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1856
Sangihe Pulau (Volcanic)
2 Mar 1856 · 190 km away
2,806 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1855
Maluku: Ternate Island
14 Jul 1855 · 258 km away · intensity IX
34 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1858M7.3
N. Moluccas Islands
13 Dec 1858 · 266 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1889M8.0
N. Moluccas Islands
6 Sep 1889 · 255 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1840
Maluku: Ternate Island
14 Feb 1840 · 259 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1857
Sulawesi Island: Kema
17 Nov 1857 · 290 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.