Reviewed by USGS21y ago
M4.8 earthquake off the west coast of northern Sumatra
Thursday, February 17, 2005, 11:18:48 UTC · 5.116°N, 92.343°E
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck off the west coast of northern Sumatra on Thursday, February 17, 2005, 11:18:48 UTC, at a depth of 30.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on February 16, 2005.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- 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 earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
239 tons of TNT
That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 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 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 229 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.2284 km WNW of Sabang, IndonesiaDecember 26, 2004 · 211 km N of this epicenter
- 7.0190 km WNW of Sabang, IndonesiaMay 17, 1955 · 254 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.975 km WSW of Banda Aceh, IndonesiaAugust 23, 1936 · 263 km E of this epicenter
- 6.968 km WSW of Sabang, IndonesiaApril 4, 1983 · 272 km E of this epicenter
- 6.8238 km WNW of Sabang, IndonesiaJanuary 20, 1917 · 247 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.7171 km W of Meulaboh, IndonesiaDecember 9, 1929 · 271 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.7off the west coast of northern SumatraJanuary 1, 2005 · 5 km SW of this epicenter
- 6.6Nicobar Islands, India regionApril 7, 1973 · 231 km NW of this epicenter
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 · 283 km away · intensity VIII
9 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1983M6.6
Sumatera: Banda Aceh
4 Apr 1983 · 272 km away · intensity VII
$1 million damage
- 1982M6.3
Little Nicobar Island
20 Jan 1982 · 274 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1847
Little Nicobar Island
31 Oct 1847 · 287 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1955M7.3
Little Nicobar Island
17 May 1955 · 239 km away
tsunami
- 1949M6.7
Banda Aceh
9 May 1949 · 295 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.