QuakeScout
Magnitude6.3

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia96y ago

M6.3 earthquake 113 km W of Tual, Indonesia

Wednesday, March 11, 1931, 05:58:54 UTC · 5.642°S, 131.728°E

A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 113 km W of Tual, Indonesia on Wednesday, March 11, 1931, 05:58:54 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on December 7, 1928.

Magnitude
6.3
Strong · mw
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

43 kilotons of TNT

That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 89 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

111 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Banda Sea and Timor 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 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 13 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.5273 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaJune 3, 1927 · 179 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 7.1196 km SSE of Ambon, IndonesiaJuly 4, 1914 · 291 km W of this epicenter
  3. 7.0188 km SSE of Amahai, IndonesiaJune 9, 1920 · 246 km W of this epicenter
  4. 6.9Banda SeaOctober 30, 1909 · 269 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 6.7158 km SW of Tual, IndonesiaNovember 18, 1919 · 119 km S of this epicenter
  6. 6.6203 km WSW of Nabire, IndonesiaDecember 7, 1928 · 288 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 6.5290 km SSE of Amahai, IndonesiaMarch 23, 1921 · 202 km W of this epicenter
  8. 6.5264 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaMay 5, 1915 · 159 km SW of this epicenter

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:

  1. 1852M8.3

    Maluku: Bandanaira

    25 Nov 1852 · 223 km away · intensity IX

    60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  2. 1763

    Bandaneira

    12 Sep 1763 · 195 km away · intensity X

    7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  3. 1710

    Bandaneira

    6 Mar 1710 · 237 km away · intensity IX

    Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  4. 1890

    Bandaneira

    23 Nov 1890 · 239 km away · intensity VII

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)

  5. 1852M7.0

    Bandaneira

    24 Dec 1852 · 154 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  6. 1882M7.5

    Bandaneira

    10 Oct 1882 · 239 km away

    tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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