Reviewed by USGSIndonesia74y ago
M6.3 earthquake 155 km SSW of Tual, Indonesia
Monday, April 6, 1953, 00:36:24 UTC · 6.841°S, 132.038°E
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 155 km SSW of Tual, Indonesia on Monday, April 6, 1953, 00:36:24 UTC, at a depth of 63.3 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.4 on March 31, 1944.
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 63 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
37 kilotons of TNT
That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 78 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
20 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
63 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 16 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.51938 Banda Sea EarthquakeFebruary 1, 1938 · 205 km N of this epicenter
- 7.7147 km E of Tual, IndonesiaNovember 6, 1943 · 268 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5273 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaJune 3, 1927 · 163 km W of this epicenter
- 6.9Banda SeaOctober 30, 1909 · 264 km W of this epicenter
- 6.7158 km SW of Tual, IndonesiaNovember 18, 1919 · 29 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.5290 km SSE of Amahai, IndonesiaMarch 23, 1921 · 264 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.5264 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaMay 5, 1915 · 181 km W of this epicenter
- 6.4149 km W of Tual, IndonesiaMarch 31, 1944 · 168 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 7 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1763
Bandaneira
12 Sep 1763 · 244 km away · intensity X
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1938M8.6
New Guinea
1 Feb 1938 · 205 km away · intensity VI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1852M7.0
Bandaneira
24 Dec 1852 · 266 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1950M8.1
Banda Sea
2 Nov 1950 · 283 km away
- 1943M7.6
New Guinea: Irian Jaya: Aru Islands
6 Nov 1943 · 288 km away
- 1859M6.8
Neira I, Lonthor I
25 Sep 1859 · 226 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.