Reviewed by USGSIndonesia108y ago
M6.7 earthquake 158 km SW of Tual, Indonesia
Tuesday, November 18, 1919, 03:58:39 UTC · 6.711°S, 131.814°E
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 158 km SW of Tual, Indonesia on Tuesday, November 18, 1919, 03:58:39 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.8 on November 23, 1918.
- Magnitude
- 6.7
- Strong · 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
194 kilotons of TNT
That is about 13 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 407 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
7 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Banda Sea and Timor plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
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 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 5 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.9Banda SeaOctober 30, 1909 · 240 km W of this epicenter
- 6.8Banda SeaNovember 23, 1918 · 299 km W of this epicenter
- 6.7284 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor LesteMay 30, 1909 · 287 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.5264 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaMay 5, 1915 · 153 km W of this epicenter
- 5.8282 km SSE of Tual, IndonesiaJanuary 11, 1917 · 273 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 67 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1852M8.3
Maluku: Bandanaira
25 Nov 1852 · 280 km away · intensity IX
60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1763
Bandaneira
12 Sep 1763 · 215 km away · intensity X
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1852M7.0
Bandaneira
24 Dec 1852 · 239 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1859M6.8
Neira I, Lonthor I
25 Sep 1859 · 198 km away
tsunami
- 1841
N. Moluccas Islands
26 Nov 1841 · 277 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.