Reviewed by USGSIndonesia49y ago
M5.1 earthquake in South of Lombok, Indonesia
Tuesday, April 11, 1978, 10:27:04 UTC · 11.843°S, 116.859°E
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck in South of Lombok, Indonesia on Tuesday, April 11, 1978, 10:27:04 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on April 10, 1978.
- Magnitude
- 5.1
- 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
674 tons of TNT
That is about 1/22 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 1 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
57 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 75 km
USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.3 on May 9, 1978. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 185 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 · 183 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.7297 km S of Praya, IndonesiaApril 10, 1978 · 57 km N of this epicenter
- 6.4248 km S of Taliwang, IndonesiaMay 28, 1972 · 96 km N of this epicenter
- 6.3297 km SW of Waingapu, IndonesiaOctober 31, 1977 · 155 km E of this epicenter
- 6.3161 km S of Sumbawa Besar, IndonesiaOctober 7, 1977 · 216 km N of this epicenter
- 6.3151 km WSW of Waingapu, IndonesiaJanuary 2, 1977 · 298 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.1156 km WSW of Waingapu, IndonesiaAugust 25, 1977 · 287 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.1224 km S of Dompu, IndonesiaAugust 19, 1977 · 219 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 · 182 km away
189 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.