QuakeScout
Magnitude4.7

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia21y ago

M4.7 earthquake 290 km WSW of Meulaboh, Indonesia

Sunday, April 3, 2005, 06:19:16 UTC · 3.415°N, 93.617°E

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 290 km WSW of Meulaboh, Indonesia on Sunday, April 3, 2005, 06:19:16 UTC, at a depth of 21.7 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.3 on April 2, 2005.

Magnitude
4.7
Light · mb
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: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

169 tons of TNT

That is about 1/89 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 3 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

13 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 50 km

USGS lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.8 on April 13, 2005. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M4M51h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.7
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.8283 km WSW of Meulaboh, Indonesia21y ago · 10 km SE of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 299 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 9.12004 Sumatra - Andaman Islands EarthquakeDecember 26, 2004 · 263 km E of this epicenter
  2. 8.2The 1907 Sumatra Earthquake and TsunamiJanuary 4, 1907 · 228 km E of this epicenter
  3. 7.5209 km WSW of Sinabang, IndonesiaNovember 21, 1969 · 184 km SE of this epicenter
  4. 7.450 km NW of Sinabang, IndonesiaNovember 2, 2002 · 282 km E of this epicenter
  5. 7.085 km SSE of Meulaboh, IndonesiaJune 20, 1976 · 300 km E of this epicenter
  6. 6.975 km WSW of Banda Aceh, IndonesiaAugust 23, 1936 · 238 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 6.95 km W of Banda Aceh, IndonesiaApril 2, 1964 · 300 km NE of this epicenter
  8. 6.9164 km WSW of Sinabang, IndonesiaNovember 8, 1995 · 237 km SE of this epicenter

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 230,090 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 2004M9.1

    Sumatra: Aceh: Off West Coast

    26 Dec 2004 · 263 km away

    227,899 deaths$10 billion damagetsunami

  2. 1907M8.2

    Nw Sumatra: Gunungsitoli, Barus

    4 Jan 1907 · 228 km away

    2,188 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  3. 2002M7.3

    Sumatera: Simeulue

    2 Nov 2002 · 282 km away

    3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  4. 1983M6.6

    Sumatera: Banda Aceh

    4 Apr 1983 · 284 km away · intensity VII

    $1 million damage

  5. 1969M7.7

    Off Nw Coast Sumatera

    21 Nov 1969 · 182 km away

  6. 1949M6.7

    Banda Aceh

    9 May 1949 · 234 km away

    tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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