Reviewed by USGSIndonesia79y ago
M6.4 earthquake 29 km W of Labuan, Indonesia
Wednesday, March 24, 1948, 05:19:39 UTC · 6.382°S, 105.559°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 29 km W of Labuan, Indonesia on Wednesday, March 24, 1948, 05:19:39 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on April 1, 1943.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 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
62 kilotons of TNT
That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 130 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
225 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Australian 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 28 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.548 km SW of Kotabumi, IndonesiaJune 24, 1933 · 168 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.030 km WNW of Labuan, IndonesiaApril 1, 1943 · 9 km N of this epicenter
- 6.679 km WSW of Labuan, IndonesiaAugust 13, 1913 · 56 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5271 km S of Pagar Alam, IndonesiaMarch 3, 1921 · 284 km W of this epicenter
- 6.585 km SW of Labuan, IndonesiaMay 12, 1923 · 67 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.4200 km SW of Bandar Lampung, IndonesiaOctober 4, 1907 · 173 km W of this epicenter
- 6.385 km SSW of Kotabumi, IndonesiaApril 2, 1919 · 154 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1834
Java: Bogor, Cinajur
10 Oct 1834 · 163 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1933M5.8
S Sumatera
25 Jun 1933 · 193 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1900
Java: Sukabumi
14 Jan 1900 · 163 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1852M6.5
Java: Djakarta; Sumatra: Telukbetung
9 Jan 1852 · 15 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1903M8.1
S Of Java
27 Feb 1903 · 186 km away
- 1757M7.5
Jakarta
24 Aug 1757 · 165 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.