M6.2 earthquake 145 km W of Tobelo, Indonesia

Wednesday, March 26, 1913, 21:35:49 UTC · 1.928°N, 126.719°E

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 145 km W of Tobelo, Indonesia on Wednesday, March 26, 1913, 21:35:49 UTC, at a depth of 70.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.5 on August 17, 1912.

Magnitude: 6.2; Strong · mw
Depth: 70 km; Intermediate
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

31 kilotons of TNT

That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 65 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

13 km

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

Depth: intermediate

70 km

Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.

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:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 17 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,958 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1856
Sangihe Pulau (Volcanic)
2 Mar 1856 · 236 km away
2,806 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1845M7.0
N Sulawesi: Menado, Tikala, Tomohon
8 Feb 1845 · 214 km away · intensity IX
118 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1855
Maluku: Ternate Island
14 Jul 1855 · 141 km away · intensity IX
34 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1858M7.3
N. Moluccas Islands
13 Dec 1858 · 131 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1889M8.0
N. Moluccas Islands
6 Sep 1889 · 116 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1859M7.3
Sulawesi
29 Jul 1859 · 253 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers