QuakeScout
Magnitude6.4

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia80y ago

M6.4 earthquake 151 km SW of Nabire, Indonesia

Sunday, October 5, 1947, 18:40:51 UTC · 4.308°S, 134.512°E

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 151 km SW of Nabire, Indonesia on Sunday, October 5, 1947, 18:40:51 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.6 on May 27, 1947.

Magnitude
6.4
Strong · mw
Depth
25 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

60 kilotons of TNT

That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 126 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

13 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

25 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 24 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.736 km NNE of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 13, 1916 · 188 km NE of this epicenter
  2. 7.7147 km E of Tual, IndonesiaNovember 6, 1943 · 146 km S of this epicenter
  3. 7.6138 km SW of Insrom, IndonesiaMay 27, 1947 · 277 km N of this epicenter
  4. 7.1152 km NNE of Tual, IndonesiaFebruary 15, 1936 · 132 km W of this epicenter
  5. 7.196 km SSW of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 1942 · 68 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.027 km NE of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 13, 1916 · 180 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 6.86 km ENE of Nabire, IndonesiaAugust 3, 1915 · 158 km NE of this epicenter
  8. 6.6203 km WSW of Nabire, IndonesiaDecember 7, 1928 · 77 km W 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:

  1. 1938

    New Guinea: Fakfak

    13 Feb 1938 · 285 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1916M8.1

    New Guinea: Irian Jaya

    13 Jan 1916 · 220 km away

  3. 1916M8.1

    New Guinea: Irian Jaya

    13 Jan 1916 · 182 km away

  4. 1943M7.6

    New Guinea: Irian Jaya: Aru Islands

    6 Nov 1943 · 188 km away

  5. 1915

    Kaimana

    23 May 1915 · 117 km away

    tsunami

  6. 1937

    New Guinea: Fakfak

    6 Nov 1937 · 285 km away

    tsunami

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages