Reviewed by USGSIndonesia98y ago
M5.9 earthquake 78 km NE of Tual, Indonesia
Sunday, April 28, 1929, 14:33:11 UTC · 5.064°S, 133.185°E
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck 78 km NE of Tual, Indonesia on Sunday, April 28, 1929, 14:33:11 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.6 on December 7, 1928.
- Magnitude
- 5.9
- Moderate · 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
12 kilotons of TNT
That is about the energy of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 25 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
42 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Banda Sea and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
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 75 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 6 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 6.7158 km SW of Tual, IndonesiaNovember 18, 1919 · 238 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.6203 km WSW of Nabire, IndonesiaDecember 7, 1928 · 126 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.4212 km SW of Manokwari, IndonesiaMay 17, 1924 · 298 km N of this epicenter
- 5.9Papua, IndonesiaFebruary 2, 1929 · 203 km N of this epicenter
- 5.9264 km W of Nabire, IndonesiaOctober 26, 1926 · 218 km N of this epicenter
- 5.9215 km NNE of Tual, IndonesiaNovember 2, 1926 · 147 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1852M7.0
Bandaneira
24 Dec 1852 · 297 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1915
Kaimana
23 May 1915 · 168 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.