M6.2 earthquake 199 km W of Sinabang, Indonesia

Wednesday, January 26, 2005, 22:00:42 UTC · 2.699°N, 94.602°E

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 199 km W of Sinabang, Indonesia on Wednesday, January 26, 2005, 22:00:42 UTC, at a depth of 22.2 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M9.1 on December 26, 2004.

Magnitude: 6.2; Strong · mwb
Depth: 22 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

30 kilotons of TNT

That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 63 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

34 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

22 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 23 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M6.0 on February 5, 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 271 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 8 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 231,409 recorded deaths. The most severe:

2004M9.1
Sumatra: Aceh: Off West Coast
26 Dec 2004 · 167 km away
227,899 deaths$10 billion damagetsunami
1907M8.2
Nw Sumatra: Gunungsitoli, Barus
4 Jan 1907 · 103 km away
2,188 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
2005M8.6
Sumatera: Sw
28 Mar 2005 · 287 km away
1,319 deaths$37 million damagetsunami
2002M7.3
Sumatera: Simeulue
2 Nov 2002 · 165 km away
3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1997M6.0
N. Sumatera, Aceh, Banda Aceh, Medan
20 Aug 1997 · 279 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
2005M6.7
Sumatra: Nias Island: Gunungsitoli
5 Jul 2005 · 292 km away
Limited damage (under $1M)

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

Nearby trackers