Reviewed by USGSIndonesia115y ago
M6.5 earthquake 201 km SSE of Baubau, Indonesia
Sunday, August 18, 1912, 13:19:58 UTC · 7.092°S, 123.414°E
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 201 km SSE of Baubau, Indonesia on Sunday, August 18, 1912, 13:19:58 UTC, at a depth of 600.0 km (deep). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.
- Magnitude
- 6.5
- Strong · mB
- Depth
- 600 km
- Deep
- 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
85 kilotons of TNT
That is about 6 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 178 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
76 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: deep
600 km
Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.
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 no earlier M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km.
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 3 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 250 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1896
Timor: Alor Island
18 Apr 1896 · 196 km away · intensity VIII
250 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1891M7.0
Timor Sea
5 Oct 1891 · 222 km away
tsunami
- 1897M5.5
Kajuadi Island
15 Mar 1897 · 290 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.