Reviewed by USGS77y ago
M7.7 earthquake in Banda Sea
Thursday, November 2, 1950, 15:28:15 UTC · 6.823°S, 129.183°E
A magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck in Banda Sea on Thursday, November 2, 1950, 15:28:15 UTC, at a depth of 199.7 km (intermediate). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.7
- Major · mw
- Depth
- 200 km
- Intermediate
- 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
5.4 megatons of TNT
That is about 355 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 11,220 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
46 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: intermediate
200 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 25 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.5273 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaJune 3, 1927 · 152 km E of this epicenter
- 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteAugust 30, 1917 · 182 km W of this epicenter
- 7.258 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor LesteSeptember 29, 1905 · 249 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1196 km SSE of Ambon, IndonesiaJuly 4, 1914 · 182 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0188 km SSE of Amahai, IndonesiaJune 9, 1920 · 221 km N of this epicenter
- 6.9Banda SeaOctober 30, 1909 · 52 km E of this epicenter
- 6.8Banda SeaNovember 23, 1918 · 9 km W of this epicenter
- 6.7158 km SW of Tual, IndonesiaNovember 18, 1919 · 291 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 12 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 67 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1852M8.3
Maluku: Bandanaira
25 Nov 1852 · 186 km away · intensity IX
60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1763
Bandaneira
12 Sep 1763 · 129 km away · intensity X
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1710
Bandaneira
6 Mar 1710 · 267 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1890
Bandaneira
23 Nov 1890 · 270 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1852M7.0
Bandaneira
24 Dec 1852 · 250 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1918M8.1
Banda Sea
18 Nov 1918 · 28 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.