M7.8 earthquake 37 km WNW of Maumere, Indonesia

Saturday, December 12, 1992, 05:29:26 UTC · 8.480°S, 121.896°E

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck 37 km WNW of Maumere, Indonesia on Saturday, December 12, 1992, 05:29:26 UTC, at a depth of 27.7 km (shallow). No earthquake of this size or larger appears within 300 km in the USGS catalog since 1900.

Magnitude: 7.8; Major · mw
Depth: 28 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 0; Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking: VIII; Severe (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 200 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

7.6 megatons of TNT

That is about 502 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 15,849 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

46 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: shallow

28 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 200 km

USGS lists 68 M2.5+ earthquakes within 200 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.1 on December 12, 1992. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 274 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 9 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,640 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1992M7.8
Flores Region, Maumere, Babi
12 Dec 1992 · 0 km away · intensity XI
2,500 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
1987M6.5
Timor: Pantar, Mount Sirung
26 Nov 1987 · 250 km away
125 deaths$5 million damagetsunami
1982M5.9
Flores Island: Eastern
25 Dec 1982 · 130 km away
13 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
1961M6.5
Flores: Endeh
16 Mar 1961 · 33 km away · intensity VIII
2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1814
Timor Island, Kupang, Kissar Island
1814 · 271 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1982M5.6
Flores Islands: Ruteng
6 Aug 1982 · 146 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)

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

Nearby trackers