QuakeScout
Magnitude7.3

Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste110y ago

M7.3 earthquake 145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor Leste

Thursday, August 30, 1917, 04:07:24 UTC · 7.359°S, 127.624°E

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck 145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor Leste on Thursday, August 30, 1917, 04:07:24 UTC, at a depth of 140.0 km (intermediate). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.

Magnitude
7.3
Major · mB
Depth
140 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

1.3 megatons of TNT

That is about 89 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 2,818 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

28 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

140 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 200 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 200 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 4 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.258 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor LesteSeptember 29, 1905 · 104 km S of this epicenter
  2. 7.1196 km SSE of Ambon, IndonesiaJuly 4, 1914 · 293 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 6.9Banda SeaOctober 30, 1909 · 229 km E of this epicenter
  4. 6.7284 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor LesteMay 30, 1909 · 216 km E of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1917M7.8

    Banda Sea

    30 Aug 1917 · 44 km away

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages