QuakeScout
Magnitude4.9

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia49y ago

M4.9 earthquake 180 km S of Sumbawa Besar, Indonesia

Saturday, November 19, 1977, 17:33:28 UTC · 10.125°S, 117.436°E

A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 180 km S of Sumbawa Besar, Indonesia on Saturday, November 19, 1977, 17:33:28 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.3 on November 14, 1977.

Magnitude
4.9
Light · 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

338 tons of TNT

That is about 1/45 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

134 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

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 50 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 205 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.31977 Sumba, Indonesia EarthquakeAugust 19, 1977 · 154 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 7.084 km SSE of Dompu, IndonesiaMay 9, 1922 · 166 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 6.746 km NE of Bima, IndonesiaNovember 2, 1954 · 280 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 6.4248 km S of Taliwang, IndonesiaMay 28, 1972 · 110 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 6.377 km WSW of Waingapu, IndonesiaOctober 15, 1923 · 240 km E of this epicenter
  6. 6.3297 km SW of Waingapu, IndonesiaOctober 31, 1977 · 169 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 6.3161 km S of Sumbawa Besar, IndonesiaOctober 7, 1977 · 23 km NW of this epicenter
  8. 6.3139 km SSE of Dompu, IndonesiaDecember 21, 1938 · 153 km E 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, which together caused about 189 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1977M8.3

    Sunda Islands

    19 Aug 1977 · 155 km away

    189 deaths$1 million damagetsunami

  2. 1836M7.5

    Flores Sea

    28 Nov 1836 · 246 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  3. 1954M6.8

    Sumabawa: Bima,Raba

    2 Nov 1954 · 292 km away · intensity VIII

    Limited damage (under $1M)

  4. 1837

    Sumbawa Island: Bima

    28 Nov 1837 · 215 km away · intensity IX

    Limited damage (under $1M)

  5. 1963M6.0

    Bali

    18 May 1963 · 294 km away

  6. 1836

    Flores Sea

    5 Mar 1836 · 246 km away

    tsunami

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

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