Reviewed by USGSIndonesia102y ago
M6.5 earthquake 54 km W of Poso, Indonesia
Tuesday, December 29, 1925, 16:04:19 UTC · 1.453°S, 120.268°E
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 54 km W of Poso, Indonesia on Tuesday, December 29, 1925, 16:04:19 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.5 on July 29, 1924.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 25 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VII
- Very strong (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
71 kilotons of TNT
That is about 5 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 150 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
10 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Molucca Sea and Banda Sea plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
25 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 11 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.8160 km W of Gorontalo, IndonesiaJanuary 22, 1905 · 274 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.8161 km S of Luwuk, IndonesiaNovember 19, 1913 · 270 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.8109 km WSW of Luwuk, IndonesiaMarch 17, 1909 · 177 km E of this epicenter
- 6.730 km N of Luwuk, IndonesiaDecember 23, 1912 · 289 km E of this epicenter
- 6.6117 km E of Palopo, IndonesiaFebruary 13, 1924 · 210 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.628 km E of Poso, IndonesiaDecember 5, 1923 · 82 km E of this epicenter
- 6.5172 km ENE of Bontang, IndonesiaMay 14, 1921 · 279 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.5100 km E of Palopo, IndonesiaJuly 29, 1924 · 208 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1907
Sulawesi: Lemo, Colo, Anja, Olu Congko
30 Jul 1907 · 102 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.