QuakeScout
Magnitude4.3

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia41y ago

M4.3 earthquake 97 km SSE of Manokwari, Indonesia

Tuesday, December 24, 1985, 07:00:58 UTC · 1.629°S, 134.501°E

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 97 km SSE of Manokwari, Indonesia on Tuesday, December 24, 1985, 07:00:58 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.3
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

43 tons of TNT

That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

198 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Birds Head and Caroline 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 169 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.21914 Biak EarthquakeMay 26, 1914 · 274 km E of this epicenter
  2. 7.955 km S of Biak, IndonesiaSeptember 12, 1979 · 171 km E of this epicenter
  3. 7.736 km NNE of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 13, 1916 · 207 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.65 km SW of Manokwari, IndonesiaApril 27, 1944 · 97 km NW of this epicenter
  5. 7.6138 km SW of Insrom, IndonesiaMay 27, 1947 · 63 km SE of this epicenter
  6. 7.182 km SE of Biak, IndonesiaJune 22, 1957 · 233 km E of this epicenter
  7. 7.1127 km SE of Manokwari, IndonesiaNovember 17, 1985 · 46 km E of this epicenter
  8. 7.196 km SSW of Nabire, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 1942 · 287 km S of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 365 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1864M7.8

    Irian Jaya: Manokwari

    23 May 1864 · 89 km away · intensity VII

    250 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  2. 1979M7.9

    New Guinea: Irian Jaya

    12 Sep 1979 · 171 km away

    115 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  3. 1957M7.3

    New Guinea: Irian Jaya

    22 Jun 1957 · 278 km away

    Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  4. 1914M8.1

    New Guinea: Irian Jaya: Japen

    26 May 1914 · 272 km away · intensity IX

    Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  5. 1985M7.1

    New Guinea: Irian Jaya: Manokwari

    17 Nov 1985 · 46 km away · intensity VIII

    Limited damage (under $1M)

  6. 1938

    New Guinea: Fakfak

    13 Feb 1938 · 288 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

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

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