Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste76y ago
M6.7 earthquake 49 km NW of Pante Makasar, Timor Leste
Friday, March 9, 1951, 19:44:23 UTC · 8.931°S, 124.027°E
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 49 km NW of Pante Makasar, Timor Leste on Friday, March 9, 1951, 19:44:23 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on October 20, 1938.
- Magnitude
- 6.7
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VI
- Strong (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
175 kilotons of TNT
That is about 12 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 367 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
127 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Banda Sea and Timor plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
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 18 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.270 km SE of Maumere, IndonesiaOctober 20, 1938 · 143 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0194 km SE of Baubau, IndonesiaAugust 6, 1914 · 264 km N of this epicenter
- 6.984 km N of Metinaro, Timor LesteMarch 26, 1930 · 234 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.811 km WSW of Ainaro, Timor LesteMarch 23, 1908 · 153 km E of this epicenter
- 6.699 km NNW of Pante Makasar, Timor LesteMarch 28, 1923 · 62 km N of this epicenter
- 6.5201 km SSE of Baubau, IndonesiaAugust 18, 1912 · 215 km N of this epicenter
- 6.571 km NW of Naisano Dua, IndonesiaOctober 16, 1918 · 73 km W of this epicenter
- 6.4Flores region, IndonesiaMay 19, 1936 · 23 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 250 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1896
Timor: Alor Island
18 Apr 1896 · 110 km away · intensity VIII
250 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1814
Timor Island, Kupang, Kissar Island
1814 · 149 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1944M7.5
Flores
22 Mar 1944 · 75 km away
- 1891M7.0
Timor Sea
5 Oct 1891 · 8 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.