Reviewed by USGSIndonesia97y ago
M6.3 earthquake 157 km WSW of Pelabuhanratu, Indonesia
Sunday, January 18, 1931, 13:11:31 UTC · 7.753°S, 105.345°E
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 157 km WSW of Pelabuhanratu, Indonesia on Sunday, January 18, 1931, 13:11:31 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.5 on May 12, 1923.
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 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
38 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 80 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
92 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
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 15 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.679 km WSW of Labuan, IndonesiaAugust 13, 1913 · 113 km N of this epicenter
- 6.5271 km S of Pagar Alam, IndonesiaMarch 3, 1921 · 296 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.585 km SW of Labuan, IndonesiaMay 12, 1923 · 95 km N of this epicenter
- 6.4200 km SW of Bandar Lampung, IndonesiaOctober 4, 1907 · 181 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.385 km SSW of Kotabumi, IndonesiaApril 2, 1919 · 268 km N of this epicenter
- 6.2264 km WSW of Labuan, IndonesiaDecember 5, 1907 · 185 km W of this epicenter
- 6.123 km SSE of Bandar Lampung, IndonesiaJune 19, 1930 · 236 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1834
Java: Bogor, Cinajur
10 Oct 1834 · 217 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1900
Java: Sukabumi
14 Jan 1900 · 205 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1852M6.5
Java: Djakarta; Sumatra: Telukbetung
9 Jan 1852 · 140 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1903M8.1
S Of Java
27 Feb 1903 · 77 km away
- 1757M7.5
Jakarta
24 Aug 1757 · 267 km away
tsunami
- 1930M6.0
Java-S. Java Sea
19 Jun 1930 · 239 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.