QuakeScout
Magnitude5.6

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia53y ago

M5.6 earthquake 178 km ENE of Tual, Indonesia

Wednesday, January 30, 1974, 10:12:10 UTC · 4.920°S, 134.203°E

A magnitude 5.6 earthquake struck 178 km ENE of Tual, Indonesia on Wednesday, January 30, 1974, 10:12:10 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on January 30, 1974.

Magnitude
5.6
Moderate · mb
Depth
33 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: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

4 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/4 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 8 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

28 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 75 km

USGS lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.8 on February 2, 1974. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M5M61h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M5.6
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 5.7133 km ENE of Tual, Indonesia53y ago · 46 km SW of this epicenter
  2. 5.8154 km ENE of Tual, Indonesia53y ago · 25 km SW of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 65 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.51938 Banda Sea EarthquakeFebruary 1, 1938 · 287 km W of this epicenter
  2. 7.736 km NNE of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 13, 1916 · 262 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.7147 km E of Tual, IndonesiaNovember 6, 1943 · 71 km S of this epicenter
  4. 7.1152 km NNE of Tual, IndonesiaFebruary 15, 1936 · 115 km NW of this epicenter
  5. 7.196 km SSW of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 1942 · 132 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 7.027 km NE of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 13, 1916 · 253 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 6.935 km SSE of Nabire, IndonesiaJune 6, 1954 · 215 km NE of this epicenter
  8. 6.86 km ENE of Nabire, IndonesiaAugust 3, 1915 · 231 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:

  1. 1938M8.6

    New Guinea

    1 Feb 1938 · 287 km away · intensity VI

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  2. 1938

    New Guinea: Fakfak

    13 Feb 1938 · 300 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  3. 1916M8.1

    New Guinea: Irian Jaya

    13 Jan 1916 · 292 km away

  4. 1916M8.1

    New Guinea: Irian Jaya

    13 Jan 1916 · 257 km away

  5. 1943M7.6

    New Guinea: Irian Jaya: Aru Islands

    6 Nov 1943 · 125 km away

  6. 1915

    Kaimana

    23 May 1915 · 153 km away

    tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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