Reviewed by USGSIndonesia77y ago
M7.3 earthquake 55 km S of Ambon, Indonesia
Sunday, October 8, 1950, 03:23:13 UTC · 4.199°S, 128.233°E
A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck 55 km S of Ambon, Indonesia on Sunday, October 8, 1950, 03:23:13 UTC, at a depth of 20.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.3
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 20 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
1.3 megatons of TNT
That is about 89 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 2,818 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
113 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Molucca Sea and Banda Sea plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
20 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 200 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 29 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.1124 km WNW of Ambon, IndonesiaMarch 1, 1948 · 161 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.1196 km SSE of Ambon, IndonesiaJuly 4, 1914 · 149 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.1170 km WNW of Ambon, IndonesiaJune 9, 1938 · 202 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0114 km NW of Ambon, IndonesiaAugust 29, 1919 · 160 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.0188 km SSE of Amahai, IndonesiaJune 9, 1920 · 173 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.7236 km WNW of Ambon, IndonesiaAugust 3, 1926 · 271 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.6121 km NW of Ambon, IndonesiaJuly 29, 1942 · 172 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.5290 km SSE of Amahai, IndonesiaMarch 23, 1921 · 255 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 32 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,534 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1899M7.8
Banda Sea
29 Sep 1899 · 137 km away
2,460 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1852M8.3
Maluku: Bandanaira
25 Nov 1852 · 205 km away · intensity IX
60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1763
Bandaneira
12 Sep 1763 · 280 km away · intensity X
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1754M6.5
Ambon Island
18 Aug 1754 · 83 km away
4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1711M7.0
Banda Sea
5 Sep 1711 · 88 km away
2 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1950M7.6
Seram
8 Oct 1950 · 45 km away
1 deathSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.