M6.7 earthquake off the west coast of northern Sumatra

Saturday, January 1, 2005, 06:25:44 UTC · 5.099°N, 92.304°E

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck off the west coast of northern Sumatra on Saturday, January 1, 2005, 06:25:44 UTC, at a depth of 11.7 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M7.2 on December 26, 2004.

Magnitude: 6.7; Strong · mwc
Depth: 12 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: 100 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

169 kilotons of TNT

That is about 11 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 355 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

38 km

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

Depth: shallow

12 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 9 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on January 1, 2005. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 178 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 7 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 9 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1936M7.3
Banda Aceh,Lhok Sukon,Lhoksemawe
23 Aug 1936 · 288 km away · intensity VIII
9 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1983M6.6
Sumatera: Banda Aceh
4 Apr 1983 · 277 km away · intensity VII
$1 million damage
1982M6.3
Little Nicobar Island
20 Jan 1982 · 278 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
1847
Little Nicobar Island
31 Oct 1847 · 291 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1955M7.3
Little Nicobar Island
17 May 1955 · 244 km away
tsunami
1949M6.7
Banda Aceh
9 May 1949 · 299 km away
tsunami

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

Nearby trackers