Reviewed by USGSIndonesia18y ago
M4.0 earthquake 142 km WSW of Sungai Penuh, Indonesia
Saturday, March 1, 2008, 22:25:04 UTC · 2.521°S, 100.193°E
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 142 km WSW of Sungai Penuh, Indonesia on Saturday, March 1, 2008, 22:25:04 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.0
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 35 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
15 tons of TNT
That is about 1/998 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 32 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
26 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the North Andes and South American plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
35 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 4 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.6 on March 9, 2008. 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 473 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.4122 km SW of Bengkulu, IndonesiaSeptember 12, 2007 · 250 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.987 km SW of Sungai Penuh, IndonesiaSeptember 12, 2007 · 73 km E of this epicenter
- 7.726 km S of Sijunjung, IndonesiaJune 9, 1943 · 194 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.676 km SSW of Sungai Penuh, IndonesiaJune 3, 1909 · 113 km E of this epicenter
- 7.573 km WSW of Bengkulu, IndonesiaJune 25, 1914 · 231 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.478 km NNW of Curup, IndonesiaJune 8, 1943 · 225 km E of this epicenter
- 7.2164 km WSW of Sungai Penuh, IndonesiaFebruary 25, 2008 · 25 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 22 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 210 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1995M6.8
Sumatera, Jambi Province
6 Oct 1995 · 148 km away
84 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 2007M6.4
Sumatra: Southern
6 Mar 2007 · 228 km away · intensity VIII
67 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2007M8.4
Sumatra
12 Sep 2007 · 250 km away
25 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1914M7.6
Sumatera
25 Jun 1914 · 239 km away
20 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1979M6.6
S Sumatera
15 Dec 1979 · 293 km away
8 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2004M5.1
Sumatra: Padangpanjang
16 Feb 2004 · 234 km away
5 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.