QuakeScout
Magnitude4.4

Reviewed by USGS6y ago

M4.4 earthquake in Banda Sea

Friday, March 13, 2020, 00:09:18 UTC · 6.182°S, 129.509°E

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck in Banda Sea on Friday, March 13, 2020, 00:09:18 UTC, at a depth of 180.6 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
4.4
Light · mb
Depth
181 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 earthquake

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

60 tons of TNT

That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

25 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

181 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 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 1,547 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.51938 Banda Sea EarthquakeFebruary 1, 1938 · 265 km NE of this epicenter
  2. 8.11963 Banda Sea EarthquakeNovember 4, 1963 · 87 km S of this epicenter
  3. 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 80 km SW of this epicenter
  4. 7.6196 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 2006 · 172 km NW of this epicenter
  5. 7.5273 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaJune 3, 1927 · 133 km SE of this epicenter
  6. 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteAugust 30, 1917 · 246 km SW of this epicenter
  7. 7.355 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaOctober 8, 1950 · 262 km NW of this epicenter
  8. 7.3281 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaDecember 20, 1992 · 107 km SE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 20 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 70 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1852M8.3

    Maluku: Bandanaira

    25 Nov 1852 · 107 km away · intensity IX

    60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  2. 1763

    Bandaneira

    12 Sep 1763 · 58 km away · intensity X

    7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  3. 1711M7.0

    Banda Sea

    5 Sep 1711 · 249 km away

    2 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  4. 1950M7.6

    Seram

    8 Oct 1950 · 297 km away

    1 deathSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  5. 1710

    Bandaneira

    6 Mar 1710 · 189 km away · intensity IX

    Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  6. 1938M8.6

    New Guinea

    1 Feb 1938 · 265 km away · intensity VI

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

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

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