Reviewed by USGSIndonesia2y ago
M4.1 earthquake 274 km SSE of Amahai, Indonesia
Monday, January 8, 2024, 19:50:03 UTC · 5.450°S, 130.217°E
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 274 km SSE of Amahai, Indonesia on Monday, January 8, 2024, 19:50:03 UTC, at a depth of 9.7 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.1
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 10 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
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
126 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
10 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 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 1,639 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.51938 Banda Sea EarthquakeFebruary 1, 1938 · 161 km E of this epicenter
- 8.11963 Banda Sea EarthquakeNovember 4, 1963 · 181 km S of this epicenter
- 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 191 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6Pulau Pulau Tanimbar, IndonesiaJanuary 9, 2023 · 180 km S of this epicenter
- 7.6196 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 2006 · 231 km W of this epicenter
- 7.5273 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaJune 3, 1927 · 151 km S of this epicenter
- 7.355 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaOctober 8, 1950 · 260 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.3281 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaDecember 20, 1992 · 127 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 34 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 78 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1852M8.3
Maluku: Bandanaira
25 Nov 1852 · 56 km away · intensity IX
60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1763
Bandaneira
12 Sep 1763 · 66 km away · intensity X
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1754M6.5
Ambon Island
18 Aug 1754 · 289 km away
4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1711M7.0
Banda Sea
5 Sep 1711 · 210 km away
2 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 2019M5.0
Maluku: Ambon
12 Nov 2019 · 295 km away
2 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
- 1950M7.6
Seram
8 Oct 1950 · 281 km away
1 deathSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.