Reviewed by USGSIndonesia93y ago
M5.8 earthquake 232 km NW of Sabang, Indonesia
Tuesday, May 22, 1934, 01:21:47 UTC · 7.389°N, 93.847°E
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck 232 km NW of Sabang, Indonesia on Tuesday, May 22, 1934, 01:21:47 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.0 on December 11, 1932.
- Magnitude
- 5.8
- 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
7 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 15 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
72 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Burma 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 13 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.8238 km WNW of Sabang, IndonesiaJanuary 20, 1917 · 57 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.6249 km NW of Sabang, IndonesiaMarch 5, 1921 · 23 km W of this epicenter
- 6.5253 km WNW of Sabang, IndonesiaNovember 21, 1907 · 124 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.3273 km SSE of Port Blair, IndiaOctober 21, 1916 · 220 km N of this epicenter
- 6.2Nicobar Islands, India regionAugust 12, 1915 · 257 km W of this epicenter
- 6.1211 km S of Port Blair, IndiaAugust 1, 1929 · 284 km N of this epicenter
- 6.0Nicobar Islands, India regionDecember 11, 1932 · 142 km N of this epicenter
- 5.850 km ENE of Sabang, IndonesiaJuly 27, 1928 · 256 km SE 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:
- 1881M7.9
Andaman I,Nicobar I
31 Dec 1881 · 200 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1847
Little Nicobar Island
31 Oct 1847 · 21 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1885
Banda Atjeh
14 Dec 1885 · 260 km away
tsunami
- 1886
Koeta Radja (Atjeh)
31 Jan 1886 · 256 km away
tsunami
- 1888
Sumatera: Breueh Island
21 Mar 1888 · 218 km away
tsunami
- 1922
Lhoknga, Aceh
8 Jul 1922 · 258 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.