Reviewed by USGSIndonesia97y ago
M5.8 earthquake 11 km WSW of Indramayu, Indonesia
Tuesday, January 20, 1931, 23:44:14 UTC · 6.379°S, 108.231°E
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck 11 km WSW of Indramayu, Indonesia on Tuesday, January 20, 1931, 23:44:14 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.0 on April 24, 1919.
- Magnitude
- 5.8
- Moderate · 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
8 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 18 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
391 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Australian 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 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 3 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 16 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 799 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1924
Java: Wonosobo
2 Dec 1924 · 211 km away · intensity IX
727 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1924
Java
12 Nov 1924 · 201 km away
60 deaths
- 1875
W Java: Kuningan
25 Oct 1875 · 58 km away · intensity VIII
7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1867
Java: Jogyakarta, Surakarta
10 Jun 1867 · 287 km away · intensity IX
5 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1834
Java: Bogor, Cinajur
10 Oct 1834 · 141 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1926
Java: Prupuk,Margarsari,Dubuktengah
13 Dec 1926 · 117 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.