QuakeScout
Magnitude6.4

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia83y ago

M6.4 earthquake 149 km W of Tual, Indonesia

Friday, March 31, 1944, 02:51:45 UTC · 5.466°S, 131.417°E

A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 149 km W of Tual, Indonesia on Friday, March 31, 1944, 02:51:45 UTC, at a depth of 65.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.7 on November 6, 1943.

Magnitude
6.4
Strong · mw
Depth
65 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

52 kilotons of TNT

That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 110 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

131 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

65 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 26 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.51938 Banda Sea EarthquakeFebruary 1, 1938 · 52 km NE of this epicenter
  2. 7.7147 km E of Tual, IndonesiaNovember 6, 1943 · 295 km E of this epicenter
  3. 7.5273 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaJune 3, 1927 · 172 km SW of this epicenter
  4. 7.1152 km NNE of Tual, IndonesiaFebruary 15, 1936 · 243 km NE of this epicenter
  5. 7.1196 km SSE of Ambon, IndonesiaJuly 4, 1914 · 255 km W of this epicenter
  6. 7.0188 km SSE of Amahai, IndonesiaJune 9, 1920 · 207 km W of this epicenter
  7. 6.9Banda SeaOctober 30, 1909 · 253 km SW of this epicenter
  8. 6.8Banda SeaNovember 23, 1918 · 295 km SW 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:

  1. 1852M8.3

    Maluku: Bandanaira

    25 Nov 1852 · 186 km away · intensity IX

    60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  2. 1763

    Bandaneira

    12 Sep 1763 · 168 km away · intensity X

    7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  3. 1710

    Bandaneira

    6 Mar 1710 · 198 km away · intensity IX

    Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  4. 1938M8.6

    New Guinea

    1 Feb 1938 · 52 km away · intensity VI

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  5. 1890

    Bandaneira

    23 Nov 1890 · 199 km away · intensity VII

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)

  6. 1852M7.0

    Bandaneira

    24 Dec 1852 · 114 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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