Reviewed by USGSIndonesia124y ago
M7.0 earthquake 121 km ESE of Labuha, Indonesia
Sunday, May 1, 1904, 15:28:27 UTC · 1.090°S, 128.470°E
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck 121 km ESE of Labuha, Indonesia on Sunday, May 1, 1904, 15:28:27 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 7.0
- Major · ms
- 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
477 kilotons of TNT
That is about 32 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1,000 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
113 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
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 200 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 20 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,498 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1899M7.8
Banda Sea
29 Sep 1899 · 212 km away
2,460 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1855
Maluku: Ternate Island
14 Jul 1855 · 247 km away · intensity IX
34 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1754M6.5
Ambon Island
18 Aug 1754 · 268 km away
4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1802
Banda Sea
Aug 1802 · 292 km away · intensity X
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1815
Ambon Island
11 Apr 1815 · 290 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1835
Maluku: Ambon
1 Nov 1835 · 292 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.