Reviewed by USGSIndonesia54y ago
M6.4 earthquake 193 km NE of Tual, Indonesia
Tuesday, April 17, 1973, 12:34:26 UTC · 4.439°S, 134.030°E
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 193 km NE of Tual, Indonesia on Tuesday, April 17, 1973, 12:34:26 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on November 8, 1970.
- Magnitude
- 6.4
- Strong · ms
- Depth
- 33 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- VI
- Strong (ShakeMap)
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
60 kilotons of TNT
That is about 4 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 126 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
27 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Australian and Birds Head plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
33 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 100 km
USGS lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.2 on May 12, 1973. 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 61 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 · 276 km W of this epicenter
- 7.736 km NNE of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 13, 1916 · 237 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7147 km E of Tual, IndonesiaNovember 6, 1943 · 123 km S of this epicenter
- 7.1152 km NNE of Tual, IndonesiaFebruary 15, 1936 · 79 km W of this epicenter
- 7.196 km SSW of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 1942 · 123 km E of this epicenter
- 7.027 km NE of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 13, 1916 · 230 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.935 km SSE of Nabire, IndonesiaJune 6, 1954 · 201 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.86 km ENE of Nabire, IndonesiaAugust 3, 1915 · 209 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1938M8.6
New Guinea
1 Feb 1938 · 276 km away · intensity VI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1938
New Guinea: Fakfak
13 Feb 1938 · 250 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1916M8.1
New Guinea: Irian Jaya
13 Jan 1916 · 271 km away
- 1916M8.1
New Guinea: Irian Jaya
13 Jan 1916 · 228 km away
- 1943M7.6
New Guinea: Irian Jaya: Aru Islands
6 Nov 1943 · 181 km away
- 1915
Kaimana
23 May 1915 · 96 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.