Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste30y ago
M4.7 earthquake 107 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste
Monday, July 8, 1996, 16:56:03 UTC · 7.972°S, 127.802°E
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 107 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste on Monday, July 8, 1996, 16:56:03 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.2 on July 6, 1996.
- Magnitude
- 4.7
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 33 km
- Shallow
- 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
169 tons of TNT
That is about 1/89 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 3 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
98 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
33 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 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 650 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.11963 Banda Sea EarthquakeNovember 4, 1963 · 229 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 199 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteAugust 30, 1917 · 71 km N of this epicenter
- 7.3172 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteNovember 24, 1983 · 68 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.2187 km N of Baukau, Timor LesteFebruary 11, 1969 · 189 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.258 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor LesteSeptember 29, 1905 · 50 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.1186 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteMay 15, 1962 · 83 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.1297 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteDecember 25, 1995 · 190 km NE 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. The most severe:
- 1989M6.2
Timor: Alor
14 Jul 1989 · 295 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1963M8.3
Banda Sea
4 Nov 1963 · 232 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)
- 1908M6.6
Timor
23 Mar 1908 · 261 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1918M8.1
Banda Sea
18 Nov 1918 · 171 km away
- 1950M8.1
Banda Sea
2 Nov 1950 · 249 km away
- 1917M7.8
Banda Sea
30 Aug 1917 · 57 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.