QuakeScout
Magnitude6.5

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia104y ago

M6.5 earthquake 85 km SW of Labuan, Indonesia

Saturday, May 12, 1923, 01:20:09 UTC · 6.904°S, 105.265°E

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 85 km SW of Labuan, Indonesia on Saturday, May 12, 1923, 01:20:09 UTC, at a depth of 25.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.5 on March 3, 1921.

Magnitude
6.5
Strong · mw
Depth
25 km
Shallow
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
VI
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

159 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

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 7 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 6.679 km WSW of Labuan, IndonesiaAugust 13, 1913 · 18 km N of this epicenter
  2. 6.5271 km S of Pagar Alam, IndonesiaMarch 3, 1921 · 256 km W of this epicenter
  3. 6.4200 km SW of Bandar Lampung, IndonesiaOctober 4, 1907 · 136 km W of this epicenter
  4. 6.385 km SSW of Kotabumi, IndonesiaApril 2, 1919 · 179 km NW of this epicenter
  5. 6.2264 km WSW of Labuan, IndonesiaDecember 5, 1907 · 184 km W of this epicenter
  6. 6.083 km SSW of Banjar, IndonesiaApril 24, 1919 · 220 km SE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1834

    Java: Bogor, Cinajur

    10 Oct 1834 · 193 km away · intensity IX

    Severe damage ($5–24M)

  2. 1900

    Java: Sukabumi

    14 Jan 1900 · 187 km away · intensity VII

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)

  3. 1852M6.5

    Java: Djakarta; Sumatra: Telukbetung

    9 Jan 1852 · 52 km away · intensity VIII

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  4. 1903M8.1

    S Of Java

    27 Feb 1903 · 146 km away

  5. 1757M7.5

    Jakarta

    24 Aug 1757 · 216 km away

    tsunami

  6. 1722

    Java: Djakarta (Jakarta)

    Oct 1722 · 191 km away · intensity IX

    tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages