M5.0 earthquake 245 km SSW of Kawalu, Indonesia

Wednesday, August 30, 2006, 17:43:58 UTC · 9.549°S, 107.731°E

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 245 km SSW of Kawalu, Indonesia on Wednesday, August 30, 2006, 17:43:58 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.0 on August 30, 2006.

Magnitude: 5.0; Moderate · mb
Depth: 10 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: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

477 tons of TNT

That is about 1/32 of the Hiroshima bomb. Each whole step in magnitude is about 32 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

48 km

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

Depth: shallow

10 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 75 km

USGS lists 9 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.9 on September 19, 2006. 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 272 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 13 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1,047 recorded deaths. The most severe:

2006M7.7
Java
17 Jul 2006 · 45 km away
802 deaths$55 million damagetsunami
1943M8.1
Java: Jogyakarta
23 Jul 1943 · 249 km away · intensity VIII
213 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1979M6.1
Java
2 Nov 1979 · 218 km away
30 deaths$16 million damage
1937M7.2
Java: Jogyakarta: Klumpit,Prambanan
27 Sep 1937 · 271 km away · intensity IX
1 deathSevere damage ($5–24M)
2005M4.8
Java: Garut
2 Feb 2005 · 279 km away
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)
1990M4.8
Java: W, Kuningan, Majalenga
6 Jul 1990 · 297 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)

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

Nearby trackers