QuakeScout
Magnitude4.2

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia4y ago

M4.2 earthquake 216 km NE of Maumere, Indonesia

Friday, December 31, 2021, 19:07:23 UTC · 7.333°S, 123.695°E

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 216 km NE of Maumere, Indonesia on Friday, December 31, 2021, 19:07:23 UTC, at a depth of 518.0 km (deep).

Magnitude
4.2
Light · mb
Depth
518 km
Deep
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

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

49 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: deep

518 km

Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.

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

  1. 7.9169 km NNE of Maumere, IndonesiaJune 17, 1996 · 124 km W of this epicenter
  2. 7.837 km WNW of Maumere, IndonesiaDecember 12, 1992 · 236 km SW of this epicenter
  3. 7.563 km NW of Maubara, Timor LesteNovember 11, 2004 · 158 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.3Flores SeaDecember 14, 2021 · 165 km W of this epicenter
  5. 7.270 km SE of Maumere, IndonesiaOctober 20, 1938 · 213 km SW of this epicenter
  6. 7.0199 km SSW of Katabu, IndonesiaMarch 3, 1927 · 200 km W of this epicenter
  7. 7.0194 km SE of Baubau, IndonesiaAugust 6, 1914 · 92 km N of this epicenter
  8. 7.0150 km NNE of Maumere, IndonesiaFebruary 27, 2015 · 128 km W of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 14 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,963 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1992M7.8

    Flores Region, Maumere, Babi

    12 Dec 1992 · 236 km away · intensity XI

    2,500 deaths$100 million damagetsunami

  2. 1896

    Timor: Alor Island

    18 Apr 1896 · 155 km away · intensity VIII

    250 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

  3. 1987M6.5

    Timor: Pantar, Mount Sirung

    26 Nov 1987 · 114 km away

    125 deaths$5 million damagetsunami

  4. 2004M7.5

    Kepulauan Alor

    11 Nov 2004 · 158 km away

    34 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  5. 1991M6.5

    Timor: Kalabahi, Dili

    4 Jul 1991 · 138 km away

    28 deaths$8 million damage

  6. 1982M5.9

    Flores Island: Eastern

    25 Dec 1982 · 137 km away

    13 deaths$1 million damagetsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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