QuakeScout
Magnitude6.5

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia95y ago

M6.5 earthquake 71 km SSE of Ambon, Indonesia

Saturday, March 26, 1932, 09:52:27 UTC · 4.324°S, 128.328°E

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 71 km SSE of Ambon, Indonesia on Saturday, March 26, 1932, 09:52:27 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on August 3, 1926.

Magnitude
6.5
Strong · mw
Depth
35 km
Shallow
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
V
Moderate (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert
None
Not issued
Tsunami
No flag
USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

76 kilotons of TNT

That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 160 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

129 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Molucca Sea and Banda Sea 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 12 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.1196 km SSE of Ambon, IndonesiaJuly 4, 1914 · 131 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 7.0114 km NW of Ambon, IndonesiaAugust 29, 1919 · 178 km NW of this epicenter
  3. 7.0188 km SSE of Amahai, IndonesiaJune 9, 1920 · 158 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 6.8Banda SeaNovember 23, 1918 · 288 km S of this epicenter
  5. 6.7236 km WNW of Ambon, IndonesiaAugust 3, 1926 · 288 km NW of this epicenter
  6. 6.5290 km SSE of Amahai, IndonesiaMarch 23, 1921 · 237 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 6.4176 km NE of Amahai, IndonesiaNovember 5, 1906 · 299 km NE of this epicenter
  8. 6.4168 km SE of Amahai, IndonesiaJuly 2, 1920 · 191 km E of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 29 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,533 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1899M7.8

    Banda Sea

    29 Sep 1899 · 148 km away

    2,460 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  2. 1852M8.3

    Maluku: Bandanaira

    25 Nov 1852 · 188 km away · intensity IX

    60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  3. 1763

    Bandaneira

    12 Sep 1763 · 263 km away · intensity X

    7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  4. 1754M6.5

    Ambon Island

    18 Aug 1754 · 94 km away

    4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  5. 1711M7.0

    Banda Sea

    5 Sep 1711 · 83 km away

    2 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  6. 1710

    Bandaneira

    6 Mar 1710 · 176 km away · intensity IX

    Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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