QuakeScout
Magnitude4.3

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia18y ago

M4.3 earthquake 71 km NNW of Sinabang, Indonesia

Thursday, September 25, 2008, 02:23:40 UTC · 3.080°N, 96.146°E

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck 71 km NNW of Sinabang, Indonesia on Thursday, September 25, 2008, 02:23:40 UTC, at a depth of 72.8 km (intermediate).

Magnitude
4.3
Light · mb
Depth
73 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 earthquake

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

43 tons of TNT

That is about 1/354 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 11 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

8 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Cocos and Nazca plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: intermediate

73 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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 605 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 9.12004 Sumatra - Andaman Islands EarthquakeDecember 26, 2004 · 30 km NW of this epicenter
  2. 8.678 km WSW of Singkil, IndonesiaMarch 28, 2005 · 154 km SE of this epicenter
  3. 8.2The 1907 Sumatra Earthquake and TsunamiJanuary 4, 1907 · 82 km SW of this epicenter
  4. 7.5209 km WSW of Sinabang, IndonesiaNovember 21, 1969 · 212 km SW of this epicenter
  5. 7.450 km NW of Sinabang, IndonesiaNovember 2, 2002 · 29 km S of this epicenter
  6. 7.456 km NW of Sinabang, IndonesiaFebruary 20, 2008 · 40 km SW of this epicenter
  7. 7.186 km WSW of Pangkalan Brandan, IndonesiaSeptember 19, 1936 · 172 km NE of this epicenter
  8. 7.040 km NE of Meulaboh, IndonesiaAugust 3, 1935 · 148 km N of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 26 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 231,445 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 2004M9.1

    Sumatra: Aceh: Off West Coast

    26 Dec 2004 · 30 km away

    227,899 deaths$10 billion damagetsunami

  2. 1907M8.2

    Nw Sumatra: Gunungsitoli, Barus

    4 Jan 1907 · 82 km away

    2,188 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  3. 2005M8.6

    Sumatera: Sw

    28 Mar 2005 · 154 km away

    1,319 deaths$37 million damagetsunami

  4. 1936

    N Sumatera: Tapanuli, Karo

    9 Sep 1936 · 157 km away · intensity VIII

    17 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

  5. 1967M6.1

    N Sumatera,Malay Peninsula

    12 Apr 1967 · 298 km away

    14 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami

  6. 2002M7.3

    Sumatera: Simeulue

    2 Nov 2002 · 29 km away

    3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

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

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