Reviewed by USGSIndonesia49y ago
M6.3 earthquake 297 km SW of Waingapu, Indonesia
Monday, October 31, 1977, 08:14:09 UTC · 11.437°S, 118.225°E
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck 297 km SW of Waingapu, Indonesia on Monday, October 31, 1977, 08:14:09 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.3 on October 7, 1977.
- Magnitude
- 6.3
- Strong · 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
43 kilotons of TNT
That is about 3 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 89 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
5 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda 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 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 194 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.31977 Sumba, Indonesia EarthquakeAugust 19, 1977 · 36 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.084 km SSE of Dompu, IndonesiaMay 9, 1922 · 246 km N of this epicenter
- 6.4248 km S of Taliwang, IndonesiaMay 28, 1972 · 148 km W of this epicenter
- 6.377 km WSW of Waingapu, IndonesiaOctober 15, 1923 · 226 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.362 km S of Waingapu, IndonesiaOctober 15, 1923 · 260 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.3161 km S of Sumbawa Besar, IndonesiaOctober 7, 1977 · 193 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.3139 km SSE of Dompu, IndonesiaDecember 21, 1938 · 196 km N of this epicenter
- 6.3151 km WSW of Waingapu, IndonesiaJanuary 2, 1977 · 164 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 1 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 189 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1977M8.3
Sunda Islands
19 Aug 1977 · 35 km away
189 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.