Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste120y ago
M6.8 earthquake 11 km WSW of Ainaro, Timor Leste
Monday, March 23, 1908, 12:23:41 UTC · 9.040°S, 125.420°E
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 11 km WSW of Ainaro, Timor Leste on Monday, March 23, 1908, 12:23:41 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on September 29, 1905.
- Magnitude
- 6.8
- 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
231 kilotons of TNT
That is about 15 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 484 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
95 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Timor and Australian 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 1 M5.0+ earthquake 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 3 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 250 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1896
Timor: Alor Island
18 Apr 1896 · 115 km away · intensity VIII
250 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1814
Timor Island, Kupang, Kissar Island
1814 · 236 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1891M7.0
Timor Sea
5 Oct 1891 · 156 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.