M5.3 earthquake 40 km NW of Insrom, Indonesia

Monday, March 25, 1996, 14:01:51 UTC · 0.872°S, 135.793°E

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 40 km NW of Insrom, Indonesia on Monday, March 25, 1996, 14:01:51 UTC, at a depth of 78.0 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on March 8, 1996.

Magnitude: 5.3; Moderate · mwc
Depth: 78 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: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

1 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/11 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 3 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

87 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Birds Head and Caroline plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: intermediate

78 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 lists 5 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.4 on April 15, 1996. 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 242 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 529 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1864M7.8
Irian Jaya: Manokwari
23 May 1864 · 89 km away · intensity VII
250 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1996M8.2
New Guinea: Irian Jaya: Biak, Supiori
17 Feb 1996 · 129 km away · intensity IX
164 deaths$4 million damagetsunami
1979M7.9
New Guinea: Irian Jaya
12 Sep 1979 · 94 km away
115 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1957M7.3
New Guinea: Irian Jaya
22 Jun 1957 · 151 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1914M8.1
New Guinea: Irian Jaya: Japen
26 May 1914 · 166 km away · intensity IX
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1985M7.1
New Guinea: Irian Jaya: Manokwari
17 Nov 1985 · 130 km away · intensity VIII
Limited damage (under $1M)

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

Nearby trackers