QuakeScout
Magnitude4.3

Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste22y ago

M4.3 earthquake 50 km N of Pante Makasar, Timor Leste

Sunday, December 19, 2004, 23:17:49 UTC · 8.745°S, 124.389°E

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 50 km N of Pante Makasar, Timor Leste on Sunday, December 19, 2004, 23:17:49 UTC, at a depth of 44.5 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.3
Light · mb
Depth
45 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

43 tons of TNT

That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

108 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Banda Sea and Timor plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

Depth: shallow

45 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 434 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.9169 km NNE of Maumere, IndonesiaJune 17, 1996 · 267 km NW of this epicenter
  2. 7.837 km WNW of Maumere, IndonesiaDecember 12, 1992 · 276 km W of this epicenter
  3. 7.563 km NW of Maubara, Timor LesteNovember 11, 2004 · 84 km NE of this epicenter
  4. 7.270 km SE of Maumere, IndonesiaOctober 20, 1938 · 185 km W of this epicenter
  5. 7.077 km N of Baukau, Timor LesteFebruary 14, 1952 · 255 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 7.0194 km SE of Baubau, IndonesiaAugust 6, 1914 · 248 km N of this epicenter
  7. 7.0166 km NNW of Maubara, Timor LesteJune 22, 1966 · 169 km N of this epicenter
  8. 6.9215 km NW of Maubara, Timor LesteOctober 18, 1964 · 180 km N 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 2,963 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1992M7.8

    Flores Region, Maumere, Babi

    12 Dec 1992 · 276 km away · intensity XI

    2,500 deaths$100 million damagetsunami

  2. 1896

    Timor: Alor Island

    18 Apr 1896 · 68 km away · intensity VIII

    250 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

  3. 1987M6.5

    Timor: Pantar, Mount Sirung

    26 Nov 1987 · 61 km away

    125 deaths$5 million damagetsunami

  4. 2004M7.5

    Kepulauan Alor

    11 Nov 2004 · 84 km away

    34 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  5. 1991M6.5

    Timor: Kalabahi, Dili

    4 Jul 1991 · 79 km away

    28 deaths$8 million damage

  6. 1982M5.9

    Flores Island: Eastern

    25 Dec 1982 · 149 km away

    13 deaths$1 million damagetsunami

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

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