Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste6y ago
M4.2 earthquake 206 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste
Sunday, November 24, 2019, 07:24:46 UTC · 7.463°S, 128.543°E
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 206 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste on Sunday, November 24, 2019, 07:24:46 UTC, at a depth of 159.1 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.2
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 159 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
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
79 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
159 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 M5.0 on December 5, 2019. 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 1,297 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 · 130 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 100 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.6196 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 2006 · 226 km N of this epicenter
- 7.5273 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaJune 3, 1927 · 236 km E of this epicenter
- 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteAugust 30, 1917 · 102 km W of this epicenter
- 7.3281 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaDecember 20, 1992 · 226 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3172 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteNovember 24, 1983 · 41 km W of this epicenter
- 7.3Banda SeaJune 24, 2019 · 136 km NE 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 · 280 km away · intensity IX
60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1763
Bandaneira
12 Sep 1763 · 229 km away · intensity X
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1963M8.3
Banda Sea
4 Nov 1963 · 133 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1908M6.6
Timor
23 Mar 1908 · 286 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1918M8.1
Banda Sea
18 Nov 1918 · 72 km away
- 1950M8.1
Banda Sea
2 Nov 1950 · 150 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.