Reviewed by USGSIndonesia19y ago
M4.5 earthquake 143 km WSW of Ternate, Indonesia
Wednesday, August 29, 2007, 15:59:22 UTC · 0.252°N, 126.212°E
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 143 km WSW of Ternate, Indonesia on Wednesday, August 29, 2007, 15:59:22 UTC, at a depth of 80.4 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.6 on August 28, 2007.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 80 km
- Intermediate
- 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
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
25 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Molucca Sea and Sunda plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
80 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.2 on September 17, 2007. 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 1,582 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.7148 km SE of Tondano, IndonesiaMay 14, 1932 · 39 km W of this epicenter
- 7.7264 km ESE of Luwuk, IndonesiaNovember 29, 1998 · 297 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.7121 km E of Bitung, IndonesiaAugust 10, 1968 · 136 km N of this epicenter
- 7.564 km NNW of Ternate, IndonesiaJune 25, 1907 · 162 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5126 km WNW of Ternate, IndonesiaJanuary 21, 2007 · 91 km N of this epicenter
- 7.5146 km NW of Ternate, IndonesiaAugust 14, 1986 · 175 km N of this epicenter
- 7.3108 km SE of Tondano, IndonesiaMay 5, 1908 · 86 km W of this epicenter
- 7.2182 km WNW of Tobelo, IndonesiaOctober 10, 1938 · 241 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 27 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 285 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1845M7.0
N Sulawesi: Menado, Tikala, Tomohon
8 Feb 1845 · 204 km away · intensity IX
118 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1965M7.6
Sanana Island
24 Jan 1965 · 295 km away
71 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1998M7.7
Mangole, Manado, Taliabu
29 Nov 1998 · 297 km away · intensity VII
41 deaths$200 million damagetsunami
- 1855
Maluku: Ternate Island
14 Jul 1855 · 135 km away · intensity IX
34 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1994M7.0
Kau
21 Jan 1994 · 189 km away
9 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1932M7.7
Sulawesi: Kakas,Langowan,Poso,Tondano
14 May 1932 · 39 km away · intensity VII
7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.