Reviewed by USGSIndonesia76y ago
M6.3 earthquake 161 km ENE of Tual, Indonesia
Monday, January 15, 1951, 10:32:07 UTC · 4.842°S, 133.983°E
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 161 km ENE of Tual, Indonesia on Monday, January 15, 1951, 10:32:07 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.4 on November 2, 1949.
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 15 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
38 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 80 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
7 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Australian and Birds Head plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
15 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 27 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 · 263 km W of this epicenter
- 7.736 km NNE of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 13, 1916 · 272 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7147 km E of Tual, IndonesiaNovember 6, 1943 · 79 km S of this epicenter
- 7.1152 km NNE of Tual, IndonesiaFebruary 15, 1936 · 90 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.196 km SSW of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 1942 · 147 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.027 km NE of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 13, 1916 · 263 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.86 km ENE of Nabire, IndonesiaAugust 3, 1915 · 241 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.6203 km WSW of Nabire, IndonesiaDecember 7, 1928 · 80 km N 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. The most severe:
- 1938M8.6
New Guinea
1 Feb 1938 · 263 km away · intensity VI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1938
New Guinea: Fakfak
13 Feb 1938 · 277 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1916M8.1
New Guinea: Irian Jaya
13 Jan 1916 · 265 km away
- 1943M7.6
New Guinea: Irian Jaya: Aru Islands
6 Nov 1943 · 141 km away
- 1915
Kaimana
23 May 1915 · 137 km away
tsunami
- 1937
New Guinea: Fakfak
6 Nov 1937 · 277 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.