Reviewed by USGSIndonesia4y ago
M4.3 earthquake 158 km N of Maumere, Indonesia
Saturday, December 25, 2021, 10:03:44 UTC · 7.201°S, 122.043°E
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 158 km N of Maumere, Indonesia on Saturday, December 25, 2021, 10:03:44 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.3
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 10 km
- Shallow
- 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
87 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: shallow
10 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
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 M4.1 on December 26, 2021. 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 478 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.9169 km NNE of Maumere, IndonesiaJune 17, 1996 · 61 km E of this epicenter
- 7.837 km WNW of Maumere, IndonesiaDecember 12, 1992 · 143 km S of this epicenter
- 7.3Flores SeaDecember 14, 2021 · 49 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.270 km SE of Maumere, IndonesiaOctober 20, 1938 · 213 km S of this epicenter
- 7.1135 km NNE of Labuan Bajo, IndonesiaMay 24, 1990 · 186 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0199 km SSW of Katabu, IndonesiaMarch 3, 1927 · 59 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0194 km SE of Baubau, IndonesiaAugust 6, 1914 · 226 km E of this epicenter
- 7.0150 km NNE of Maumere, IndonesiaFebruary 27, 2015 · 55 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 12 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,644 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1992M7.8
Flores Region, Maumere, Babi
12 Dec 1992 · 143 km away · intensity XI
2,500 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
- 1987M6.5
Timor: Pantar, Mount Sirung
26 Nov 1987 · 260 km away
125 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
- 1982M5.9
Flores Island: Eastern
25 Dec 1982 · 176 km away
13 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
- 2003M6.5
Flores: Reo
25 Mar 2003 · 188 km away
4 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
- 1961M6.5
Flores: Endeh
16 Mar 1961 · 111 km away · intensity VIII
2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 2021M7.3
Flores Region
14 Dec 2021 · 48 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.