QuakeScout
Magnitude4.2

Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste3y ago

M4.2 earthquake 131 km N of Lospalos, Timor Leste

Wednesday, May 31, 2023, 01:19:12 UTC · 7.335°S, 127.072°E

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 131 km N of Lospalos, Timor Leste on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, 01:19:12 UTC, at a depth of 282.4 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
4.2
Light · mb
Depth
282 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

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

17 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

282 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 1,033 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 · 283 km E of this epicenter
  2. 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 240 km E of this epicenter
  3. 7.6196 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 2006 · 238 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 7.563 km NW of Maubara, Timor LesteNovember 11, 2004 · 259 km W of this epicenter
  5. 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteAugust 30, 1917 · 61 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.3125 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteDecember 29, 2021 · 61 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 7.3172 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteNovember 24, 1983 · 122 km E of this epicenter
  8. 7.3Banda SeaJune 24, 2019 · 253 km NE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 323 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1896

    Timor: Alor Island

    18 Apr 1896 · 275 km away · intensity VIII

    250 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

  2. 2004M7.5

    Kepulauan Alor

    11 Nov 2004 · 259 km away

    34 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  3. 1991M6.5

    Timor: Kalabahi, Dili

    4 Jul 1991 · 277 km away

    28 deaths$8 million damage

  4. 1995M6.9

    Timor, Dili, Maliana, Maubara

    14 May 1995 · 255 km away · intensity VII

    11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  5. 2015M6.5

    East Nusa Tenggara: Alor

    4 Nov 2015 · 266 km away · intensity V

    $9 million damage

  6. 1989M6.2

    Timor: Alor

    14 Jul 1989 · 230 km away

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages