Reviewed by USGSIndonesia21y ago
M3.8 earthquake 153 km NNW of Sabang, Indonesia
Saturday, April 30, 2005, 00:18:14 UTC · 7.228°N, 94.960°E
A magnitude 3.8 earthquake struck 153 km NNW of Sabang, Indonesia on Saturday, April 30, 2005, 00:18:14 UTC, at a depth of 30.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.8
- Minor · 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
8 tons of TNT
That is about 1/1,992 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 63 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
13 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Burma 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 515 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 · 224 km W of this epicenter
- 7.0190 km WNW of Sabang, IndonesiaMay 17, 1955 · 128 km W of this epicenter
- 6.975 km WSW of Banda Aceh, IndonesiaAugust 23, 1936 · 221 km S of this epicenter
- 6.95 km W of Banda Aceh, IndonesiaApril 2, 1964 · 191 km S of this epicenter
- 6.968 km WSW of Sabang, IndonesiaApril 4, 1983 · 169 km S of this epicenter
- 6.8238 km WNW of Sabang, IndonesiaJanuary 20, 1917 · 165 km W of this epicenter
- 6.77 km SSE of Reuleuet, IndonesiaApril 12, 1967 · 274 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.720 km SSW of Sigli, IndonesiaJuly 23, 1945 · 247 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 16 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 · 129 km away · intensity VIII
9 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1964M7.0
Banda Aceh
2 Apr 1964 · 169 km away · intensity VII
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1837M7.3
Banda Atjeh
29 Sep 1837 · 224 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1983M6.6
Sumatera: Banda Aceh
4 Apr 1983 · 169 km away · intensity VII
$1 million damage
- 1982M6.3
Little Nicobar Island
20 Jan 1982 · 110 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1847
Little Nicobar Island
31 Oct 1847 · 143 km away · intensity X
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.