M5.8 earthquake 50 km ENE of Sabang, Indonesia

Friday, July 27, 1928, 15:22:56 UTC · 6.060°N, 95.744°E

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck 50 km ENE of Sabang, Indonesia on Friday, July 27, 1928, 15:22:56 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on March 5, 1921.

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

8 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/2 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 16 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

50 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 5 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 9 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

1837M7.3
Banda Atjeh
29 Sep 1837 · 68 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1847
Little Nicobar Island
31 Oct 1847 · 270 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1816
Penang Island
1 May 1816 · 145 km away
tsunami
1885
Banda Atjeh
14 Dec 1885 · 75 km away
tsunami
1886
Koeta Radja (Atjeh)
31 Jan 1886 · 71 km away
tsunami
1887
Sumatra: Aceh: Sigli
19 May 1887 · 79 km away
tsunami

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

Nearby trackers