Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste119y ago
M6.7 earthquake 284 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor Leste
Sunday, May 30, 1909, 21:01:15 UTC · 7.899°S, 129.508°E
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 284 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor Leste on Sunday, May 30, 1909, 21:01:15 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on September 29, 1905.
- Magnitude
- 6.7
- 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
181 kilotons of TNT
That is about 12 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 380 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
118 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Timor and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
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 1 M5.0+ earthquake 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 4 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 · 296 km away · intensity IX
60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1763
Bandaneira
12 Sep 1763 · 218 km away · intensity X
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1908M6.6
Timor
23 Mar 1908 · 240 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1859M6.8
Neira I, Lonthor I
25 Sep 1859 · 288 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.