Reviewed by USGSIndonesia26y ago
M5.0 earthquake 77 km S of Bengkulu, Indonesia
Wednesday, September 27, 2000, 02:08:20 UTC · 4.494°S, 102.333°E
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 77 km S of Bengkulu, Indonesia on Wednesday, September 27, 2000, 02:08:20 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.2 on September 22, 2000.
- Magnitude
- 5.0
- Moderate · 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 75 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
477 tons of TNT
That is about 1/32 of the Hiroshima bomb. Each whole step in magnitude is about 32 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
189 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: 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 75 km
USGS lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on October 7, 2000. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 548 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.9103 km S of Bengkulu, IndonesiaJune 4, 2000 · 37 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.676 km SSW of Sungai Penuh, IndonesiaJune 3, 1909 · 235 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.573 km WSW of Bengkulu, IndonesiaJune 25, 1914 · 94 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.548 km SW of Kotabumi, IndonesiaJune 24, 1933 · 266 km E of this epicenter
- 7.478 km NNW of Curup, IndonesiaJune 8, 1943 · 185 km N of this epicenter
- 7.3161 km S of Bengkulu, IndonesiaSeptember 25, 1931 · 86 km S of this epicenter
- 7.0164 km SSW of Pagar Alam, IndonesiaFebruary 10, 1931 · 100 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 14 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 423 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1994M6.9
Southern Sumatera, Liwa, Lampung
15 Feb 1994 · 224 km away
207 deaths$170 million damage
- 2000M7.9
Sumatra: Bengkulu, Enggano
4 Jun 2000 · 37 km away · intensity VI
103 deaths$6 million damage
- 1995M6.8
Sumatera, Jambi Province
6 Oct 1995 · 290 km away
84 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 1914M7.6
Sumatera
25 Jun 1914 · 85 km away
20 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1979M6.6
S Sumatera
15 Dec 1979 · 139 km away
8 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2000M6.7
Southern Sumatera: Lahat
7 Jun 2000 · 49 km away
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.