Reviewed by USGSIndonesia18y ago
M4.0 earthquake 158 km W of Bengkulu, Indonesia
Tuesday, May 27, 2008, 23:59:18 UTC · 3.738°S, 100.837°E
A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 158 km W of Bengkulu, Indonesia on Tuesday, May 27, 2008, 23:59:18 UTC, at a depth of 28.9 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.0
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 29 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
104 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Australian plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
29 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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.2 on June 22, 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 766 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 · 98 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.987 km SW of Sungai Penuh, IndonesiaSeptember 12, 2007 · 124 km N of this epicenter
- 7.9103 km S of Bengkulu, IndonesiaJune 4, 2000 · 177 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.676 km SSW of Sungai Penuh, IndonesiaJune 3, 1909 · 120 km N of this epicenter
- 7.573 km WSW of Bengkulu, IndonesiaJune 25, 1914 · 94 km E of this epicenter
- 7.4102 km SSE of Bengkulu, IndonesiaFebruary 13, 2001 · 218 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.478 km NNW of Curup, IndonesiaJune 8, 1943 · 181 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.3161 km S of Bengkulu, IndonesiaSeptember 25, 1931 · 232 km SE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 21 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 · 177 km away · intensity VI
103 deaths$6 million damage
- 1995M6.8
Sumatera, Jambi Province
6 Oct 1995 · 200 km away
84 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 2007M8.4
Sumatra
12 Sep 2007 · 98 km away
25 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1914M7.6
Sumatera
25 Jun 1914 · 111 km away
20 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1979M6.6
S Sumatera
15 Dec 1979 · 214 km away
8 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 2008M5.4
Sumatra: Southern
9 Sep 2008 · 247 km away
2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.