Magnitude5.6

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia61y ago

M5.6 earthquake 18 km WNW of Tabanan, Indonesia

Monday, May 2, 1966, 16:39:45 UTC · 8.495°S, 114.967°E

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 18 km WNW of Tabanan, Indonesia on Monday, May 2, 1966, 16:39:45 UTC, at a depth of 105.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.8 on February 9, 1966.

Magnitude
5.6
Moderate · mw
Depth
105 km
Intermediate
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
IV
Light (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert
None
Not issued
Tsunami
No flag
USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

4 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/4 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 9 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

292 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: intermediate

105 km

Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.

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 75 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 16 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 12 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 12,997 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1815M7.3

    Bali

    22 Nov 1815 · 45 km away · intensity IX

    11,453 deathstsunami

  2. 1917M6.6

    Bali

    20 Jan 1917 · 201 km away · intensity IX

    1,500 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  3. 1857M7.0

    Timor Island:: Dilhi, Gera

    13 May 1857 · 80 km away

    36 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  4. 1958M6.7

    Java: Malang

    20 Oct 1958 · 293 km away · intensity VIII

    8 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

  5. 1916M7.3

    Java

    11 Sep 1916 · 223 km away

    Severe damage ($5–24M)

  6. 1818M8.5

    Sumbawa Island: Bima

    8 Nov 1818 · 279 km away

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

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