Reviewed by USGSIndonesia107y ago
M6.4 earthquake 168 km SE of Amahai, Indonesia
Friday, July 2, 1920, 21:36:47 UTC · 4.367°S, 130.046°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 168 km SE of Amahai, Indonesia on Friday, July 2, 1920, 21:36:47 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.0 on June 9, 1920.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- Strong · 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
58 kilotons of TNT
That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 122 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
195 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Birds Head and Banda Sea plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
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 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 6 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.1196 km SSE of Ambon, IndonesiaJuly 4, 1914 · 136 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.0188 km SSE of Amahai, IndonesiaJune 9, 1920 · 73 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.9Banda SeaOctober 30, 1909 · 286 km S of this epicenter
- 6.8Banda SeaNovember 23, 1918 · 289 km S of this epicenter
- 6.5264 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaMay 5, 1915 · 225 km S of this epicenter
- 6.4176 km NE of Amahai, IndonesiaNovember 5, 1906 · 225 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 23 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,533 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1899M7.8
Banda Sea
29 Sep 1899 · 229 km away
2,460 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1852M8.3
Maluku: Bandanaira
25 Nov 1852 · 104 km away · intensity IX
60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1763
Bandaneira
12 Sep 1763 · 182 km away · intensity X
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1754M6.5
Ambon Island
18 Aug 1754 · 197 km away
4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1711M7.0
Banda Sea
5 Sep 1711 · 123 km away
2 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1710
Bandaneira
6 Mar 1710 · 24 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.