QuakeScout
Magnitude4.8

Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste31y ago

M4.8 earthquake 172 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste

Saturday, March 2, 1996, 13:15:25 UTC · 7.314°S, 127.994°E

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 172 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste on Saturday, March 2, 1996, 13:15:25 UTC, at a depth of 100.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.3 on February 3, 1996.

Magnitude
4.8
Light · mb
Depth
100 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

239 tons of TNT

That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

39 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

100 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on March 15, 1996. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.8
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.8182 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste30y ago · 34 km SE of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 775 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.11963 Banda Sea EarthquakeNovember 4, 1963 · 182 km E of this epicenter
  2. 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 142 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.5273 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaJune 3, 1927 · 290 km E of this epicenter
  4. 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteAugust 30, 1917 · 41 km W of this epicenter
  5. 7.3281 km WSW of Tual, IndonesiaDecember 20, 1992 · 277 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.3172 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteNovember 24, 1983 · 27 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 7.2187 km N of Baukau, Timor LesteFebruary 11, 1969 · 167 km W of this epicenter
  8. 7.258 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor LesteSeptember 29, 1905 · 122 km SW of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 7 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1763

    Bandaneira

    12 Sep 1763 · 265 km away · intensity X

    7 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  2. 1963M8.3

    Banda Sea

    4 Nov 1963 · 182 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)

  3. 1918M8.1

    Banda Sea

    18 Nov 1918 · 116 km away

  4. 1950M8.1

    Banda Sea

    2 Nov 1950 · 189 km away

  5. 1917M7.8

    Banda Sea

    30 Aug 1917 · 21 km away

  6. 1956M7.5

    Banda Sea

    18 Jul 1956 · 300 km away

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

Nearby trackers

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