Reviewed by USGS21y ago
M4.8 earthquake off the west coast of northern Sumatra
Sunday, May 15, 2005, 00:32:46 UTC · 3.744°N, 93.506°E
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck off the west coast of northern Sumatra on Sunday, May 15, 2005, 00:32:46 UTC, at a depth of 30.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.0 on May 13, 2005.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- Light · mwc
- 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
26 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 293 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 · 279 km E of this epicenter
- 8.2The 1907 Sumatra Earthquake and TsunamiJanuary 4, 1907 · 254 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.5209 km WSW of Sinabang, IndonesiaNovember 21, 1969 · 222 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.975 km WSW of Banda Aceh, IndonesiaAugust 23, 1936 · 215 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.95 km W of Banda Aceh, IndonesiaApril 2, 1964 · 281 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.9164 km WSW of Sinabang, IndonesiaNovember 8, 1995 · 273 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.968 km WSW of Sabang, IndonesiaApril 4, 1983 · 258 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.860 km W of Sinabang, IndonesiaNovember 2, 1908 · 292 km SE 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 230,096 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 2004M9.1
Sumatra: Aceh: Off West Coast
26 Dec 2004 · 279 km away
227,899 deaths$10 billion damagetsunami
- 1907M8.2
Nw Sumatra: Gunungsitoli, Barus
4 Jan 1907 · 254 km away
2,188 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1936M7.3
Banda Aceh,Lhok Sukon,Lhoksemawe
23 Aug 1936 · 293 km away · intensity VIII
9 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1983M6.6
Sumatera: Banda Aceh
4 Apr 1983 · 258 km away · intensity VII
$1 million damage
- 1969M7.7
Off Nw Coast Sumatera
21 Nov 1969 · 219 km away
- 1949M6.7
Banda Aceh
9 May 1949 · 217 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.