M4.8 earthquake 29 km SSW of Sinabang, Indonesia

Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 05:04:47 UTC · 2.236°N, 96.265°E

A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 29 km SSW of Sinabang, Indonesia on Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 05:04:47 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on September 10, 2008.

Magnitude: 4.8; 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

239 tons of TNT

That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

56 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Burma 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 6 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.0 on September 29, 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 565 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 18 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 231,433 recorded deaths. The most severe:

2004M9.1
Sumatra: Aceh: Off West Coast
26 Dec 2004 · 122 km away
227,899 deaths$10 billion damagetsunami
1907M8.2
Nw Sumatra: Gunungsitoli, Barus
4 Jan 1907 · 95 km away
2,188 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
2005M8.6
Sumatera: Sw
28 Mar 2005 · 95 km away
1,319 deaths$37 million damagetsunami
1936
N Sumatera: Tapanuli, Karo
9 Sep 1936 · 196 km away · intensity VIII
17 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
2002M7.3
Sumatera: Simeulue
2 Nov 2002 · 68 km away
3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
2008M7.4
Sumatera: Aceh Province
20 Feb 2008 · 68 km away
3 deaths

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

Nearby trackers