QuakeScout
Magnitude6.3

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia111y ago

M6.3 earthquake 200 km NW of Abepura, Indonesia

Tuesday, December 26, 1916, 20:10:29 UTC · 1.522°S, 139.176°E

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 200 km NW of Abepura, Indonesia on Tuesday, December 26, 1916, 20:10:29 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.5 on July 5, 1914.

Magnitude
6.3
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

38 kilotons of TNT

That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 80 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

17 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Caroline and Woodlark plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

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

  1. 8.21914 Biak EarthquakeMay 26, 1914 · 253 km W of this epicenter
  2. 7.8230 km W of Abepura, IndonesiaJune 1, 1906 · 128 km SW of this epicenter
  3. 6.825 km NNW of Jayapura, IndonesiaDecember 31, 1911 · 187 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 6.5110 km SSE of Biak, IndonesiaJuly 5, 1914 · 290 km W of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 5 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1900M6.9

    Nw. Irian Jaya

    7 Oct 1900 · 290 km away

    5 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1914M8.1

    New Guinea: Irian Jaya: Japen

    26 May 1914 · 251 km away · intensity IX

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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