QuakeScout
Magnitude4.7

Reviewed by USGSTimor Leste20y ago

M4.7 earthquake 129 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor Leste

Wednesday, May 24, 2006, 12:11:23 UTC · 7.876°S, 127.975°E

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 129 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor Leste on Wednesday, May 24, 2006, 12:11:23 UTC, at a depth of 15.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.2 on May 14, 2006.

Magnitude
4.7
Light · mb
Depth
15 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

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

96 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Banda Sea and Timor plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

15 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 818 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 8.11963 Banda Sea EarthquakeNovember 4, 1963 · 207 km NE of this epicenter
  2. 7.7Banda SeaNovember 2, 1950 · 177 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.6196 km S of Ambon, IndonesiaJanuary 27, 2006 · 268 km N of this epicenter
  4. 7.3145 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteAugust 30, 1917 · 69 km NW of this epicenter
  5. 7.3172 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteNovember 24, 1983 · 49 km NE of this epicenter
  6. 7.2187 km N of Baukau, Timor LesteFebruary 11, 1969 · 196 km NW of this epicenter
  7. 7.258 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor LesteSeptember 29, 1905 · 72 km SW of this epicenter
  8. 7.1186 km NE of Lospalos, Timor LesteMay 15, 1962 · 64 km NE of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:

  1. 1963M8.3

    Banda Sea

    4 Nov 1963 · 210 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)

  2. 1908M6.6

    Timor

    23 Mar 1908 · 262 km away

    Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami

  3. 1918M8.1

    Banda Sea

    18 Nov 1918 · 149 km away

  4. 1950M8.1

    Banda Sea

    2 Nov 1950 · 227 km away

  5. 1917M7.8

    Banda Sea

    30 Aug 1917 · 42 km away

  6. 2006M7.6

    Banda Sea

    27 Jan 2006 · 268 km away

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

Nearby trackers

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