Reviewed by USGSIndonesia20y ago
M4.7 earthquake 225 km SSW of Kawalu, Indonesia
Thursday, August 31, 2006, 17:26:17 UTC · 9.320°S, 107.587°E
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 225 km SSW of Kawalu, Indonesia on Thursday, August 31, 2006, 17:26:17 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
- 4.7
- Light · 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: 50 km aftershock search area
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
67 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 50 km
USGS lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.1 on September 4, 2006. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 286 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.7226 km SSW of Singaparna, IndonesiaJuly 17, 2006 · 19 km W of this epicenter
- 7.487 km SSW of Srandakan, IndonesiaJuly 23, 1943 · 260 km E of this epicenter
- 6.9south of Java, IndonesiaJuly 24, 1979 · 204 km S of this epicenter
- 6.5260 km SSW of Kroya, IndonesiaSeptember 7, 1974 · 101 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.519 km W of Ciranjang-hilir, IndonesiaOctober 9, 1985 · 287 km N of this epicenter
- 6.3136 km S of Kawalu, IndonesiaSeptember 14, 1944 · 94 km NE of this epicenter
- 6.3south of Java, IndonesiaMarch 21, 1940 · 101 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 20 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1,055 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 2006M7.7
Java
17 Jul 2006 · 19 km away
802 deaths$55 million damagetsunami
- 1943M8.1
Java: Jogyakarta
23 Jul 1943 · 265 km away · intensity VIII
213 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1979M6.1
Java
2 Nov 1979 · 199 km away
30 deaths$16 million damage
- 1875
W Java: Kuningan
25 Oct 1875 · 280 km away · intensity VIII
7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1937M7.2
Java: Jogyakarta: Klumpit,Prambanan
27 Sep 1937 · 287 km away · intensity IX
1 deathSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1971M5.2
Java: Buaran,Bantar Kawsun,Jipang
16 Jun 1971 · 289 km away
1 deathSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.