QuakeScout
Magnitude4.0

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia21y ago

M4.0 earthquake 260 km WSW of Banda Aceh, Indonesia

Friday, May 6, 2005, 16:52:06 UTC · 4.286°N, 93.341°E

A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 260 km WSW of Banda Aceh, Indonesia on Friday, May 6, 2005, 16:52:06 UTC, at a depth of 30.0 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.0
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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

15 tons of TNT

That is about 1/998 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 32 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

39 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 lists 1 M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.6 on May 9, 2005. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

M3M41h6h1d3d7d14d30dMainshock M4.0
Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.
  1. 4.6277 km WSW of Banda Aceh, Indonesia21y ago · 17 km SW of this epicenter

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 306 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.5209 km WSW of Sinabang, IndonesiaNovember 21, 1969 · 283 km SE of this epicenter
  2. 7.2284 km WNW of Sabang, IndonesiaDecember 26, 2004 · 295 km N of this epicenter
  3. 7.0190 km WNW of Sabang, IndonesiaMay 17, 1955 · 289 km N of this epicenter
  4. 6.975 km WSW of Banda Aceh, IndonesiaAugust 23, 1936 · 187 km NE of this epicenter
  5. 6.95 km W of Banda Aceh, IndonesiaApril 2, 1964 · 256 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 6.968 km WSW of Sabang, IndonesiaApril 4, 1983 · 221 km NE of this epicenter
  7. 6.899 km WNW of Sinabang, IndonesiaFebruary 26, 2005 · 293 km SE of this epicenter
  8. 6.7171 km W of Meulaboh, IndonesiaDecember 9, 1929 · 139 km E of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 9 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 1936M7.3

    Banda Aceh,Lhok Sukon,Lhoksemawe

    23 Aug 1936 · 252 km away · intensity VIII

    9 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  2. 1983M6.6

    Sumatera: Banda Aceh

    4 Apr 1983 · 221 km away · intensity VII

    $1 million damage

  3. 1969M7.7

    Off Nw Coast Sumatera

    21 Nov 1969 · 280 km away

  4. 1955M7.3

    Little Nicobar Island

    17 May 1955 · 257 km away

    tsunami

  5. 1949M6.7

    Banda Aceh

    9 May 1949 · 200 km away

    tsunami

  6. 1935M6.5

    Celebes Sea

    25 Nov 1935 · 153 km away

    tsunami

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

Nearby trackers

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