QuakeScout
Magnitude4.0

Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste6y ago

M4.0 earthquake 103 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste

Thursday, March 19, 2020, 00:20:37 UTC · 7.809°S, 127.613°E

A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 103 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste on Thursday, March 19, 2020, 00:20:37 UTC, at a depth of 127.4 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
4.0
Light · mb
Depth
127 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

15 tons of TNT

That is about 1/998 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 32 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

74 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

127 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 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on March 31, 2020. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.0
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.8108 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor Leste6y ago · 30 km NW of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 1,029 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 · 239 km NE of this epicenter
  2. 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 205 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.6196 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 2006 · 266 km N of this epicenter
  4. 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteAugust 30, 1917 · 50 km N of this epicenter
  5. 7.3172 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteNovember 24, 1983 · 71 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 7.3Banda SeaJune 24, 2019 · 232 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 7.2187 km N of Baukau, Timor LesteFebruary 11, 1969 · 161 km NW of this epicenter
  8. 7.258 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor LesteSeptember 29, 1905 · 55 km S of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 11 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1995M6.9

    Timor, Dili, Maliana, Maubara

    14 May 1995 · 291 km away · intensity VII

    11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  2. 1989M6.2

    Timor: Alor

    14 Jul 1989 · 275 km away

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)

  3. 1963M8.3

    Banda Sea

    4 Nov 1963 · 241 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)

  4. 1908M6.6

    Timor

    23 Mar 1908 · 287 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  5. 1918M8.1

    Banda Sea

    18 Nov 1918 · 177 km away

  6. 1950M8.1

    Banda Sea

    2 Nov 1950 · 254 km away

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

Nearby trackers

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