Reviewed by USGSIndonesia88y ago
M5.5 earthquake 243 km S of Dampit, Indonesia
Thursday, May 11, 1939, 17:30:48 UTC · 10.412°S, 112.780°E
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 243 km S of Dampit, Indonesia on Thursday, May 11, 1939, 17:30:48 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.8 on June 20, 1929.
- Magnitude
- 5.5
- Moderate · mw
- Depth
- 15 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
3 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/6 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 6 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
42 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
15 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 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 8 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.6233 km S of Pundong, IndonesiaSeptember 11, 1921 · 236 km W of this epicenter
- 7.1138 km SSE of Pundong, IndonesiaSeptember 10, 1926 · 273 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.7169 km S of Boyolangu, IndonesiaJuly 7, 1910 · 151 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.668 km S of Sumberpucung, IndonesiaSeptember 11, 1916 · 188 km N of this epicenter
- 6.2282 km SSW of Jimbaran, IndonesiaOctober 23, 1925 · 167 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.0186 km S of Pundong, IndonesiaSeptember 11, 1926 · 280 km W of this epicenter
- 5.9157 km SSW of Gambiran Satu, IndonesiaMarch 27, 1928 · 126 km NE of this epicenter
- 5.878 km SSE of Dampit, IndonesiaJune 20, 1929 · 170 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 4 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1859
S. Java Sea
20 Oct 1859 · 250 km away
2 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1916M7.3
Java
11 Sep 1916 · 159 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1921M7.5
S Of Java
11 Sep 1921 · 205 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1930M6.5
S. Java Sea
19 Jul 1930 · 207 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.