M4.6 earthquake 170 km SSW of Sibolga, Indonesia

Sunday, May 29, 2005, 18:16:46 UTC · 0.444°N, 97.957°E

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 170 km SSW of Sibolga, Indonesia on Sunday, May 29, 2005, 18:16:46 UTC, at a depth of 30.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.6 on May 29, 2005.

Magnitude: 4.6; 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

120 tons of TNT

That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

110 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.

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 7 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.6 on June 28, 2005. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 326 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 18 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 3,676 recorded deaths. The most severe:

2005M8.6
Sumatera: Sw
28 Mar 2005 · 205 km away
1,319 deaths$37 million damagetsunami
1861M8.5
Lagundi, Simuk, Tello I
16 Feb 1861 · 168 km away · intensity IX
1,105 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1861M7.0
Sw. Sumatra
9 Mar 1861 · 49 km away
950 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1797M8.0
Sw. Sumatra
10 Feb 1797 · 126 km away · intensity IX
300 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1987M6.6
Sumatera: N, Tarutung-Lake Toba,
25 Apr 1987 · 224 km away
2 deaths$1 million damage
1843M7.3
Sw. Sumatra
5 Jan 1843 · 118 km away · intensity XI
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers