Magnitude6.8

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia26y ago

M6.8 earthquake 29 km SW of Labuan, Indonesia

Wednesday, October 25, 2000, 09:32:23 UTC · 6.549°S, 105.630°E

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck 29 km SW of Labuan, Indonesia on Wednesday, October 25, 2000, 09:32:23 UTC, at a depth of 38.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.9 on February 15, 1994.

Magnitude
6.8
Strong · mwc
Depth
38 km
Shallow
Felt reports
0
Did You Feel It?
Est. shaking
VI
Strong (ShakeMap)
PAGER alert
None
Not issued
Tsunami
No flag
USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search areaColoured lines: estimated shaking intensity (USGS ShakeMap)

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

239 kilotons of TNT

That is about 16 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 501 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

214 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

38 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 100 km

USGS lists 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.3 on November 17, 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 379 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 21 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 220 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1994M6.9

    Southern Sumatera, Liwa, Lampung

    15 Feb 1994 · 229 km away

    207 deaths$170 million damage

  2. 1875

    W Java: Kuningan

    25 Oct 1875 · 297 km away · intensity VIII

    7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  3. 1999M6.5

    Pandeglang, W Jawa, Se Sumatera

    21 Dec 1999 · 34 km away

    5 deaths$4 million damage

  4. 1975M5.6

    Java

    9 Feb 1975 · 119 km away · intensity VIII

    1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)

  5. 1990M4.8

    Java: W, Kuningan, Majalenga

    6 Jul 1990 · 278 km away

    Severe damage ($5–24M)

  6. 1834

    Java: Bogor, Cinajur

    10 Oct 1834 · 152 km away · intensity IX

    Severe damage ($5–24M)

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

Nearby trackers

Closest city pages