QuakeScout
Magnitude4.4

Reviewed by USGSIndonesia17y ago

M4.4 earthquake 63 km S of Padang, Indonesia

Sunday, October 25, 2009, 03:46:59 UTC · 1.525°S, 100.406°E

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 63 km S of Padang, Indonesia on Sunday, October 25, 2009, 03:46:59 UTC, at a depth of 43.3 km (shallow).

Magnitude
4.4
Light · mb
Depth
43 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 earthquake

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

60 tons of TNT

That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

114 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

43 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 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 466 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

  1. 7.987 km SW of Sungai Penuh, IndonesiaSeptember 12, 2007 · 132 km S of this epicenter
  2. 7.726 km S of Sijunjung, IndonesiaJune 9, 1943 · 88 km NE of this epicenter
  3. 7.630 km WSW of Pariaman, IndonesiaSeptember 30, 2009 · 108 km NW of this epicenter
  4. 7.6212 km W of Pariaman, IndonesiaDecember 28, 1935 · 278 km NW of this epicenter
  5. 7.676 km SSW of Sungai Penuh, IndonesiaJune 3, 1909 · 158 km SE of this epicenter
  6. 7.478 km NNW of Curup, IndonesiaJune 8, 1943 · 247 km SE of this epicenter
  7. 7.2164 km WSW of Sungai Penuh, IndonesiaFebruary 25, 2008 · 117 km SW of this epicenter

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 25 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1,583 recorded deaths. The most severe:

  1. 2009M7.5

    Sumatra: Padang

    30 Sep 2009 · 108 km away

    1,117 deaths$2.2 billion damagetsunami

  2. 1797M8.0

    Sw. Sumatra

    10 Feb 1797 · 231 km away · intensity IX

    300 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

  3. 1995M6.8

    Sumatera, Jambi Province

    6 Oct 1995 · 128 km away

    84 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)

  4. 2007M6.4

    Sumatra: Southern

    6 Mar 2007 · 115 km away · intensity VIII

    67 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  5. 2006M5.8

    Sumatera: Northern, Muarasipongi

    17 Dec 2006 · 247 km away

    7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)

  6. 2004M5.1

    Sumatra: Padangpanjang

    16 Feb 2004 · 121 km away

    5 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)

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

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