Reviewed by USGSIndonesia55y ago
M6.4 earthquake 248 km S of Taliwang, Indonesia
Sunday, May 28, 1972, 01:55:22 UTC · 10.988°S, 116.950°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 248 km S of Taliwang, Indonesia on Sunday, May 28, 1972, 01:55:22 UTC, at a depth of 26.9 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on May 9, 1922.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 27 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
56 kilotons of TNT
That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 117 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
38 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
27 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 17 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.084 km SSE of Dompu, IndonesiaMay 9, 1922 · 269 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.3139 km SSE of Dompu, IndonesiaDecember 21, 1938 · 242 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.3139 km WSW of Waingapu, IndonesiaApril 13, 1951 · 255 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.1163 km SSW of Waingapu, IndonesiaMarch 15, 1925 · 295 km E of this epicenter
- 6.1149 km SSE of Dompu, IndonesiaFebruary 24, 1931 · 242 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.0253 km S of Nusa Dua, IndonesiaMarch 30, 1967 · 184 km W of this epicenter
- 6.0133 km SSE of Dompu, IndonesiaNovember 22, 1945 · 243 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.043 km SSE of Praya, IndonesiaDecember 21, 1970 · 221 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1856
Lombok Island
25 Jul 1856 · 296 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.