Reviewed by USGSIndia24y ago
M4.9 earthquake 153 km NNE of Bamboo Flat, India
Thursday, October 17, 2002, 05:22:02 UTC · 13.032°N, 93.098°E
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck 153 km NNE of Bamboo Flat, India on Thursday, October 17, 2002, 05:22:02 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on September 18, 2002.
- Magnitude
- 4.9
- 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
338 tons of TNT
That is about 1/45 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 1 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
129 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Indian and Burma 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 lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.8 on November 2, 2002. 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 135 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.043 km N of Bamboo Flat, IndiaJune 26, 1941 · 116 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.8166 km NE of Bamboo Flat, IndiaJanuary 24, 1983 · 53 km E of this epicenter
- 6.5152 km NNE of Bamboo Flat, IndiaSeptember 13, 2002 · 3 km W of this epicenter
- 6.4Andaman Islands, India regionOctober 17, 1922 · 298 km E of this epicenter
- 6.3253 km E of Port Blair, IndiaMarch 28, 1971 · 248 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.353 km W of Bamboo Flat, IndiaAugust 8, 1945 · 175 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.2179 km NNE of Bamboo Flat, IndiaNovember 16, 1962 · 28 km N of this epicenter
- 6.2112 km NE of Bamboo Flat, IndiaJuly 4, 1917 · 68 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 2 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 2002M6.5
Andaman Islands: Rongat, Diglipur,Ariel Bay
13 Sep 2002 · 3 km away
2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1941M8.0
Andaman Islands,Madras; Sri Lanka: Colombo
26 Jun 1941 · 132 km away
Extreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.