M4.6 earthquake 259 km WSW of Meulaboh, Indonesia

Monday, January 24, 2005, 19:52:50 UTC · 3.271°N, 93.954°E

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 259 km WSW of Meulaboh, Indonesia on Monday, January 24, 2005, 19:52:50 UTC, at a depth of 29.9 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.0 on January 24, 2005.

Magnitude: 4.6; Light · mb
Depth: 30 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

120 tons of TNT

That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

33 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

30 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 7 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.5 on January 29, 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 291 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 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 230,090 recorded deaths. The most severe:

2004M9.1
Sumatra: Aceh: Off West Coast
26 Dec 2004 · 225 km away
227,899 deaths$10 billion damagetsunami
1907M8.2
Nw Sumatra: Gunungsitoli, Barus
4 Jan 1907 · 187 km away
2,188 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
2002M7.3
Sumatera: Simeulue
2 Nov 2002 · 242 km away
3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1983M6.6
Sumatera: Banda Aceh
4 Apr 1983 · 286 km away · intensity VII
$1 million damage
1969M7.7
Off Nw Coast Sumatera
21 Nov 1969 · 149 km away
1949M6.7
Banda Aceh
9 May 1949 · 225 km away
tsunami

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

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