M5.2 earthquake 129 km S of Bengkulu, Indonesia

Saturday, April 18, 1992, 19:26:40 UTC · 4.967°S, 102.404°E

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck 129 km S of Bengkulu, Indonesia on Saturday, April 18, 1992, 19:26:40 UTC, at a depth of 109.3 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on April 18, 1992.

Magnitude: 5.2; Moderate · mb
Depth: 109 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

951 tons of TNT

That is about 1/16 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 2 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

161 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: intermediate

109 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 75 km

USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 75 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 405 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 28 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1914M7.6
Sumatera
25 Jun 1914 · 133 km away
20 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1979M6.6
S Sumatera
15 Dec 1979 · 189 km away
8 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1770M7.0
Sumatra:
1770 · 45 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1986M5.0
Sumatera: S, Hahat, Muaraenim
29 Jan 1986 · 166 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
1933M5.8
S Sumatera
25 Jun 1933 · 232 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
1931M7.4
Sw. Sumatra
25 Sep 1931 · 39 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers