Reviewed by USGSIndonesia53y ago
M5.7 earthquake 133 km ENE of Tual, Indonesia
Sunday, February 3, 1974, 18:45:45 UTC · 5.133°S, 133.848°E
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck 133 km ENE of Tual, Indonesia on Sunday, February 3, 1974, 18:45:45 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.8 on February 2, 1974.
- Magnitude
- 5.7
- 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
5 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/3 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 11 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
18 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Banda Sea and Australian 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 73 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 · 248 km W of this epicenter
- 7.7147 km E of Tual, IndonesiaNovember 6, 1943 · 53 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.1152 km NNE of Tual, IndonesiaFebruary 15, 1936 · 103 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.196 km SSW of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 1942 · 178 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.027 km NE of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 13, 1916 · 297 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.935 km SSE of Nabire, IndonesiaJune 6, 1954 · 260 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.86 km ENE of Nabire, IndonesiaAugust 3, 1915 · 275 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.7158 km SW of Tual, IndonesiaNovember 18, 1919 · 285 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1938M8.6
New Guinea
1 Feb 1938 · 248 km away · intensity VI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1938
New Guinea: Fakfak
13 Feb 1938 · 293 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1916M8.1
New Guinea: Irian Jaya
13 Jan 1916 · 300 km away
- 1943M7.6
New Guinea: Irian Jaya: Aru Islands
6 Nov 1943 · 120 km away
- 1915
Kaimana
23 May 1915 · 166 km away
tsunami
- 1937
New Guinea: Fakfak
6 Nov 1937 · 293 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.