Reviewed by USGS21y ago
M5.3 earthquake off the west coast of northern Sumatra
Wednesday, March 9, 2005, 18:27:41 UTC · 3.199°N, 93.456°E
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck off the west coast of northern Sumatra on Wednesday, March 9, 2005, 18:27:41 UTC, at a depth of 19.5 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.8 on February 26, 2005.
- Magnitude
- 5.3
- Moderate · mb
- Depth
- 20 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: 75 km aftershock search area
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
1 kilotons of TNT
That is about 1/11 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 3 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
16 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
20 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 75 km
USGS lists 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.7 on April 3, 2005. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 240 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 9.12004 Sumatra - Andaman Islands EarthquakeDecember 26, 2004 · 281 km E of this epicenter
- 8.2The 1907 Sumatra Earthquake and TsunamiJanuary 4, 1907 · 237 km E of this epicenter
- 7.5209 km WSW of Sinabang, IndonesiaNovember 21, 1969 · 177 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.450 km NW of Sinabang, IndonesiaNovember 2, 2002 · 295 km E of this epicenter
- 6.975 km WSW of Banda Aceh, IndonesiaAugust 23, 1936 · 268 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.9164 km WSW of Sinabang, IndonesiaNovember 8, 1995 · 233 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.860 km W of Sinabang, IndonesiaNovember 2, 1908 · 275 km E of this epicenter
- 6.8276 km WSW of Sinabang, IndonesiaSeptember 29, 1979 · 240 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 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 · 281 km away
227,899 deaths$10 billion damagetsunami
- 1907M8.2
Nw Sumatra: Gunungsitoli, Barus
4 Jan 1907 · 237 km away
2,188 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 2002M7.3
Sumatera: Simeulue
2 Nov 2002 · 295 km away
3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1969M7.7
Off Nw Coast Sumatera
21 Nov 1969 · 176 km away
- 1949M6.7
Banda Aceh
9 May 1949 · 263 km away
tsunami
- 1935M6.5
Celebes Sea
25 Nov 1935 · 263 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.