QuakeScout
Magnitude4.2

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia25y ago

M4.2 earthquake 120 km WSW of Bengkulu, Indonesia

Wednesday, May 16, 2001, 11:16:17 UTC · 4.035°S, 101.206°E

A magnitude 4.2 earthquake struck 120 km WSW of Bengkulu, Indonesia on Wednesday, May 16, 2001, 11:16:17 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.2
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

30 tons of TNT

That is about 1/500 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 16 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

117 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 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 520 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.9103 km S of Bengkulu, IndonesiaJune 4, 2000 · 124 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 7.676 km SSW of Sungai Penuh, IndonesiaJune 3, 1909 · 147 km N of this epicenter
  3. 7.573 km WSW of Bengkulu, IndonesiaJune 25, 1914 · 48 km E of this epicenter
  4. 7.4102 km SSE of Bengkulu, IndonesiaFebruary 13, 2001 · 167 km SE of this epicenter
  5. 7.478 km NNW of Curup, IndonesiaJune 8, 1943 · 172 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 7.3161 km S of Bengkulu, IndonesiaSeptember 25, 1931 · 180 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 7.0164 km SSW of Pagar Alam, IndonesiaFebruary 10, 1931 · 213 km SE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 13 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 216 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 2000M7.9

    Sumatra: Bengkulu, Enggano

    4 Jun 2000 · 124 km away · intensity VI

    103 deaths$6 million damage

  2. 1995M6.8

    Sumatera, Jambi Province

    6 Oct 1995 · 223 km away

    84 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  3. 1914M7.6

    Sumatera

    25 Jun 1914 · 69 km away

    20 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  4. 1979M6.6

    S Sumatera

    15 Dec 1979 · 186 km away

    8 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  5. 2000M6.7

    Southern Sumatera: Lahat

    7 Jun 2000 · 101 km away

    1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)

  6. 1909M7.6

    Sw Sumatra: Kerintji, Redjanglebong

    3 Jun 1909 · 227 km away

    Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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