Reviewed by USGSIndonesia2y ago
M4.4 earthquake 251 km SSE of Amahai, Indonesia
Sunday, December 17, 2023, 04:22:10 UTC · 5.266°S, 130.118°E
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 251 km SSE of Amahai, Indonesia on Sunday, December 17, 2023, 04:22:10 UTC, at a depth of 118.1 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 118 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
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
142 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Banda Sea and Timor plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: intermediate
118 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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.1 on January 8, 2024. 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 1,619 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.51938 Banda Sea EarthquakeFebruary 1, 1938 · 167 km E of this epicenter
- 8.11963 Banda Sea EarthquakeNovember 4, 1963 · 196 km S of this epicenter
- 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 202 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6Pulau Pulau Tanimbar, IndonesiaJanuary 9, 2023 · 200 km S of this epicenter
- 7.6196 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 2006 · 221 km W of this epicenter
- 7.5273 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaJune 3, 1927 · 173 km S of this epicenter
- 7.355 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaOctober 8, 1950 · 240 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.3281 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaDecember 20, 1992 · 149 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 36 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 109 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1852M8.3
Maluku: Bandanaira
25 Nov 1852 · 41 km away · intensity IX
60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 2019M6.5
Maluku: Ambon
25 Sep 2019 · 282 km away
31 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1763
Bandaneira
12 Sep 1763 · 83 km away · intensity X
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1754M6.5
Ambon Island
18 Aug 1754 · 266 km away
4 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1711M7.0
Banda Sea
5 Sep 1711 · 188 km away
2 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 2019M5.0
Maluku: Ambon
12 Nov 2019 · 273 km away
2 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.