Reviewed by USGS118y ago
M6.9 earthquake in Banda Sea
Saturday, October 30, 1909, 10:17:24 UTC · 6.908°S, 129.649°E
A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck in Banda Sea on Saturday, October 30, 1909, 10:17:24 UTC, at a depth of 150.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on September 29, 1905.
- Magnitude
- 6.9
- Strong · ms
- Depth
- 150 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
338 kilotons of TNT
That is about 22 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 708 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
46 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Banda Sea and Timor plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
150 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 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 9 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 · 185 km away · intensity IX
60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1763
Bandaneira
12 Sep 1763 · 108 km away · intensity X
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1710
Bandaneira
6 Mar 1710 · 266 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1890
Bandaneira
23 Nov 1890 · 269 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1852M7.0
Bandaneira
24 Dec 1852 · 232 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1882M7.5
Bandaneira
10 Oct 1882 · 269 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.