Reviewed by USGS49y ago
M4.6 earthquake in Banda Sea
Wednesday, March 8, 1978, 04:38:30 UTC · 5.414°S, 125.536°E
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck in Banda Sea on Wednesday, March 8, 1978, 04:38:30 UTC, at a depth of 565.0 km (deep). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.6 on February 21, 1978.
- Magnitude
- 4.6
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 565 km
- Deep
- 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
120 tons of TNT
That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
71 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Molucca Sea and Banda Sea plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: deep
565 km
Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.
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 85 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.2187 km N of Baukau, Timor LesteFebruary 11, 1969 · 191 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.1170 km WNW of Ambon, IndonesiaJune 9, 1938 · 286 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.077 km N of Baukau, Timor LesteFebruary 14, 1952 · 284 km S of this epicenter
- 7.0194 km SE of Baubau, IndonesiaAugust 6, 1914 · 214 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.0166 km NNW of Maubara, Timor LesteJune 22, 1966 · 229 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.9215 km NW of Maubara, Timor LesteOctober 18, 1964 · 275 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.984 km N of Metinaro, Timor LesteMarch 26, 1930 · 263 km S of this epicenter
- 6.8180 km N of Baukau, Timor LesteJuly 17, 1956 · 178 km SE 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. The most severe:
- 1841M6.0
Banda Sea
16 Dec 1841 · 268 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.