QuakeScout
Magnitude4.2

Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste6y ago

M4.2 earthquake 253 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste

Wednesday, December 4, 2019, 10:11:01 UTC · 6.902°S, 128.618°E

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 253 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste on Wednesday, December 4, 2019, 10:11:01 UTC, at a depth of 198.4 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
4.2
Light · mb
Depth
198 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

30 tons of TNT

That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

26 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

198 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 50 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,419 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.11963 Banda Sea EarthquakeNovember 4, 1963 · 109 km E of this epicenter
  2. 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 63 km E of this epicenter
  3. 7.6196 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 2006 · 168 km N of this epicenter
  4. 7.5273 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaJune 3, 1927 · 215 km E of this epicenter
  5. 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteAugust 30, 1917 · 121 km SW of this epicenter
  6. 7.3281 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaDecember 20, 1992 · 199 km E of this epicenter
  7. 7.3172 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteNovember 24, 1983 · 81 km SW of this epicenter
  8. 7.3Banda SeaJune 24, 2019 · 82 km NE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 14 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 · 222 km away · intensity IX

    60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  2. 1763

    Bandaneira

    12 Sep 1763 · 183 km away · intensity X

    7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  3. 1710

    Bandaneira

    6 Mar 1710 · 299 km away · intensity IX

    Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  4. 1975M5.9

    Maluku: Bandanaira

    15 Jan 1975 · 261 km away · intensity VII

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  5. 1963M8.3

    Banda Sea

    4 Nov 1963 · 106 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)

  6. 1852M7.0

    Bandaneira

    24 Dec 1852 · 297 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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