Reviewed by USGSIndonesia17y ago
M4.6 earthquake 117 km WSW of Padang, Indonesia
Thursday, December 24, 2009, 05:40:17 UTC · 1.510°S, 99.456°E
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 117 km WSW of Padang, Indonesia on Thursday, December 24, 2009, 05:40:17 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on December 23, 2009.
- Magnitude
- 4.6
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 10 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
120 tons of TNT
That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
134 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
10 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 5 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.6 on December 25, 2009. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
- 4.0119 km WSW of Padang, Indonesia16y ago · 3 km W of this epicenter
- 4.3115 km WSW of Padang, Indonesia16y ago · 5 km N of this epicenter
- 4.3116 km WSW of Padang, Indonesia16y ago · 5 km N of this epicenter
- 4.1140 km SW of Padang, Indonesia16y ago · 48 km S of this epicenter
- 4.6126 km WSW of Padang, Indonesia17y ago · 10 km W of this epicenter
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 482 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 7.987 km SW of Sungai Penuh, IndonesiaSeptember 12, 2007 · 198 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.726 km S of Sijunjung, IndonesiaJune 9, 1943 · 176 km E of this epicenter
- 7.630 km WSW of Pariaman, IndonesiaSeptember 30, 2009 · 99 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.6212 km W of Pariaman, IndonesiaDecember 28, 1935 · 192 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.676 km SSW of Sungai Penuh, IndonesiaJune 3, 1909 · 234 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2164 km WSW of Sungai Penuh, IndonesiaFebruary 25, 2008 · 123 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.1190 km SSW of Sibolga, IndonesiaNovember 17, 1984 · 248 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.095 km W of Pariaman, IndonesiaApril 1, 1998 · 110 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 27 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 3,638 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 2009M7.5
Sumatra: Padang
30 Sep 2009 · 99 km away
1,117 deaths$2.2 billion damagetsunami
- 1861M8.5
Lagundi, Simuk, Tello I
16 Feb 1861 · 225 km away · intensity IX
1,105 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1861M7.0
Sw. Sumatra
9 Mar 1861 · 234 km away
950 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1797M8.0
Sw. Sumatra
10 Feb 1797 · 175 km away · intensity IX
300 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1995M6.8
Sumatera, Jambi Province
6 Oct 1995 · 228 km away
84 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)
- 2007M6.4
Sumatra: Southern
6 Mar 2007 · 162 km away · intensity VIII
67 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.