Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste6y ago
M4.3 earthquake 117 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste
Wednesday, February 5, 2020, 13:20:39 UTC · 7.652°S, 127.606°E
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 117 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste on Wednesday, February 5, 2020, 13:20:39 UTC, at a depth of 184.5 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 184 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
43 tons of TNT
That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
57 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
184 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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.4 on March 6, 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 1,057 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 · 234 km E of this epicenter
- 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 197 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.6196 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 2006 · 249 km N of this epicenter
- 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteAugust 30, 1917 · 33 km N of this epicenter
- 7.3172 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteNovember 24, 1983 · 65 km E of this epicenter
- 7.3Banda SeaJune 24, 2019 · 221 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2187 km N of Baukau, Timor LesteFebruary 11, 1969 · 149 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.258 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor LesteSeptember 29, 1905 · 71 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 11 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1995M6.9
Timor, Dili, Maliana, Maubara
14 May 1995 · 295 km away · intensity VII
11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1989M6.2
Timor: Alor
14 Jul 1989 · 277 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1963M8.3
Banda Sea
4 Nov 1963 · 235 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1918M8.1
Banda Sea
18 Nov 1918 · 170 km away
- 1950M8.1
Banda Sea
2 Nov 1950 · 245 km away
- 1917M7.8
Banda Sea
30 Aug 1917 · 47 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.