Reviewed by USGSIndonesia39y ago
M4.1 earthquake 282 km W of Tual, Indonesia
Sunday, August 16, 1987, 03:52:44 UTC · 5.746°S, 130.209°E
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 282 km W of Tual, Indonesia on Sunday, August 16, 1987, 03:52:44 UTC, at a depth of 214.5 km (intermediate).
- Magnitude
- 4.1
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 215 km
- Intermediate
- 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
21 tons of TNT
That is about 1/707 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 22 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
95 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Banda Sea and Timor plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
215 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 618 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.51938 Banda Sea EarthquakeFebruary 1, 1938 · 174 km NE of this epicenter
- 8.11963 Banda Sea EarthquakeNovember 4, 1963 · 150 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 165 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.5273 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaJune 3, 1927 · 120 km S of this epicenter
- 7.355 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaOctober 8, 1950 · 278 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.3172 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteNovember 24, 1983 · 297 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1196 km SSE of Ambon, IndonesiaJuly 4, 1914 · 134 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.1186 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteMay 15, 1962 · 283 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 17 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 69 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1852M8.3
Maluku: Bandanaira
25 Nov 1852 · 75 km away · intensity IX
60 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1763
Bandaneira
12 Sep 1763 · 36 km away · intensity X
7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1711M7.0
Banda Sea
5 Sep 1711 · 236 km away
2 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1710
Bandaneira
6 Mar 1710 · 139 km away · intensity IX
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1938M8.6
New Guinea
1 Feb 1938 · 174 km away · intensity VI
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1975M5.9
Maluku: Bandanaira
15 Jan 1975 · 86 km away · intensity VII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.