Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste6y ago
M4.1 earthquake 201 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor Leste
Thursday, February 27, 2020, 16:06:58 UTC · 7.710°S, 128.636°E
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 201 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor Leste on Thursday, February 27, 2020, 16:06:58 UTC, at a depth of 169.3 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.1
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 169 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
21 tons of TNT
That is about 1/707 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 22 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
108 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: intermediate
169 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 lists 4 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.2 on March 7, 2020. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,270 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.11963 Banda Sea EarthquakeNovember 4, 1963 · 136 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 116 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.6196 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 2006 · 255 km N of this epicenter
- 7.5273 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaJune 3, 1927 · 237 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteAugust 30, 1917 · 118 km W of this epicenter
- 7.3281 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaDecember 20, 1992 · 231 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3172 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteNovember 24, 1983 · 58 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.3Banda SeaJune 24, 2019 · 156 km N 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:
- 1852M8.3
Maluku: Bandanaira
25 Nov 1852 · 300 km away · intensity IX
60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1763
Bandaneira
12 Sep 1763 · 243 km away · intensity X
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1963M8.3
Banda Sea
4 Nov 1963 · 141 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1908M6.6
Timor
23 Mar 1908 · 258 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1918M8.1
Banda Sea
18 Nov 1918 · 89 km away
- 1950M8.1
Banda Sea
2 Nov 1950 · 165 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.