QuakeScout
Magnitude6.5

Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste72y ago

M6.5 earthquake 173 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste

Saturday, July 23, 1955, 12:48:35 UTC · 7.363°S, 128.065°E

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 173 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste on Saturday, July 23, 1955, 12:48:35 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on February 14, 1952.

Magnitude
6.5
Strong · mw
Depth
35 km
Shallow
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
V
Moderate (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

71 kilotons of TNT

That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 150 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

47 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Banda Sea and Timor 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 24 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 137 km NE of this epicenter
  2. 7.5273 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaJune 3, 1927 · 283 km E of this epicenter
  3. 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteAugust 30, 1917 · 49 km W of this epicenter
  4. 7.258 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor LesteSeptember 29, 1905 · 121 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.1196 km SSE of Ambon, IndonesiaJuly 4, 1914 · 269 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 7.077 km N of Baukau, Timor LesteFebruary 14, 1952 · 179 km W of this epicenter
  7. 6.9Banda SeaOctober 30, 1909 · 182 km E of this epicenter
  8. 6.984 km N of Metinaro, Timor LesteMarch 26, 1930 · 254 km W of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 67 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1852M8.3

    Maluku: Bandanaira

    25 Nov 1852 · 300 km away · intensity IX

    60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  2. 1763

    Bandaneira

    12 Sep 1763 · 262 km away · intensity X

    7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  3. 1918M8.1

    Banda Sea

    18 Nov 1918 · 111 km away

  4. 1950M8.1

    Banda Sea

    2 Nov 1950 · 185 km away

  5. 1917M7.8

    Banda Sea

    30 Aug 1917 · 17 km away

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

Nearby trackers

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