Reviewed by USGSIndonesia109y ago
M6.2 earthquake 166 km SSW of Bambanglipuro, Indonesia
Saturday, August 31, 1918, 21:53:52 UTC · 9.400°S, 109.879°E
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 166 km SSW of Bambanglipuro, Indonesia on Saturday, August 31, 1918, 21:53:52 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on September 11, 1916.
- Magnitude
- 6.2
- 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
33 kilotons of TNT
That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 70 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
110 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
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 2 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 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 7 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1867
Java: Jogyakarta, Surakarta
10 Jun 1867 · 187 km away · intensity IX
5 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1859
S. Java Sea
20 Oct 1859 · 131 km away
2 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1840M7.0
Java: Purworejo
4 Jan 1840 · 170 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1863
Java: Banyumas
31 Jul 1863 · 221 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1865
Java: Ambarawa
16 Jul 1865 · 249 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1904
S. Java
7 Sep 1904 · 212 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.