M5.3 earthquake 145 km SSW of Sungai Penuh, Indonesia

Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 06:29:53 UTC · 3.292°S, 100.934°E

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck 145 km SSW of Sungai Penuh, Indonesia on Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 06:29:53 UTC, at a depth of 35.9 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on February 12, 2008.

Magnitude: 5.3; Moderate · mwc
Depth: 36 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

1 kilotons of TNT

That is about 1/11 of the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 3 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

128 km

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

Depth: shallow

36 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 February 26, 2008. 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 682 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 23 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 243 recorded deaths. The most severe:

2000M7.9
Sumatra: Bengkulu, Enggano
4 Jun 2000 · 204 km away · intensity VI
103 deaths$6 million damage
1995M6.8
Sumatera, Jambi Province
6 Oct 1995 · 149 km away
84 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
2007M8.4
Sumatra
12 Sep 2007 · 136 km away
25 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1914M7.6
Sumatera
25 Jun 1914 · 121 km away
20 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
1979M6.6
S Sumatera
15 Dec 1979 · 197 km away
8 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
2008M5.4
Sumatra: Southern
9 Sep 2008 · 246 km away
2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

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

Nearby trackers