QuakeScout
Magnitude4.1

Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste22y ago

M4.1 earthquake 28 km NNW of Metinaro, Timor Leste

Tuesday, December 21, 2004, 05:38:50 UTC · 8.308°S, 125.619°E

A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 28 km NNW of Metinaro, Timor Leste on Tuesday, December 21, 2004, 05:38:50 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.1
Light · mb
Depth
10 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

21 tons of TNT

That is about 1/707 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 22 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

94 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Banda Sea and Timor plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

10 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 459 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.563 km NW of Maubara, Timor LesteNovember 11, 2004 · 84 km W of this epicenter
  2. 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteAugust 30, 1917 · 245 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.3172 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteNovember 24, 1983 · 295 km E of this epicenter
  4. 7.2187 km N of Baukau, Timor LesteFebruary 11, 1969 · 200 km NE of this epicenter
  5. 7.258 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor LesteSeptember 29, 1905 · 203 km E of this epicenter
  6. 7.077 km N of Baukau, Timor LesteFebruary 14, 1952 · 113 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 7.0194 km SE of Baubau, IndonesiaAugust 6, 1914 · 266 km NW of this epicenter
  8. 7.0166 km NNW of Maubara, Timor LesteJune 22, 1966 · 165 km NW of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 461 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1896

    Timor: Alor Island

    18 Apr 1896 · 96 km away · intensity VIII

    250 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

  2. 1987M6.5

    Timor: Pantar, Mount Sirung

    26 Nov 1987 · 161 km away

    125 deaths$5 million damagetsunami

  3. 2004M7.5

    Kepulauan Alor

    11 Nov 2004 · 84 km away

    34 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  4. 1991M6.5

    Timor: Kalabahi, Dili

    4 Jul 1991 · 106 km away

    28 deaths$8 million damage

  5. 1982M5.9

    Flores Island: Eastern

    25 Dec 1982 · 280 km away

    13 deaths$1 million damagetsunami

  6. 1995M6.9

    Timor, Dili, Maliana, Maubara

    14 May 1995 · 65 km away · intensity VII

    11 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami

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

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