Seismic Event Dossier04:04 Local (19:04 UTC)(just now)
5.04°S, 131.61°E
USGS•#official19380201190422_30reviewed

Earthquake near Banda Sea (Indonesia)

A magnitude 8.5 (MW) earthquake occurred on 1938-02-01, 04:04 local time (19:04 UTC) (just now), centered Banda Sea (353 km SE of Amahai, Indonesia). The hypocenter was located at a shallow depth of 25 km. Primary telemetry verified by USGS alongside 1 regional seismic monitoring networks.

Historical Landmark Earthquake

#14 of All Time

Curated Global Seismic Archive (1700–Present)

Top-100 Earthquakes
Magnitude 8.5 historical earthquake occurring on 1938-02-01 in Indonesia. Associated with the Unnamed Fault (Active Fault). Documented casualties: > 1,000.
Documented Fatalities> 1,000
Fault KinematicsActive Fault
Equivalent Energy84.80 Mt TNT

Magnitude

MW
M 8.5

84.80 Mt TNT

Depth

25 km
25 km

shallow (Shallow crustal)

PAGER Impact

red
> 1,000 fatalities

Injuries: > 5,000 · ~40.7M felt

Interactive Epicenter & Fault Map

Fault5 km
Unnamed Fault
Active Fault · ~~15.0 mm/yr
Felt byMMI V+
~40.7M exposed
~14.2M in strong shaking
Primary SolutionUSGS
USGS#official19380201190422_30reviewed
1 agencies reporting
Geological Setting5.0°S
Indonesia
Banda Sea (Marine)

Seismic Activity & Aftershock Sequence

Timeline of foreshocks, main rupture, aftershocks and machine learning risk probability evolution.

M0.0M4.5M9.0100%50%0%MainshockFeb 1, 04 AMFeb 1, 04 PMFeb 2, 04 AMFeb 2, 04 PMFeb 3, 04 AMFeb 3, 04 PMFeb 4, 04 AMFeb 4, 04 PMM8.5
Hover or tap a point to inspect aftershocks and risk probability curve.
<35 km (Shallow)35–70 km (Intermediate)>70 km (Deep)Mainshock

Readings by agency

1 sources

Independent solutions for the same rupture. Differences of 0.1–0.3 in magnitude are normal and reflect method and station coverage.

AgencySource IDMagnitudeDepthEpicenter
USGS
Primary
official19380201190422_30M 8.525 km-5.04, 131.61

Tectonic setting

Nearest mapped active fault: Unnamed Fault, 5 km away, slip rate ~15.0 mm/yr (GEM Global Active Faults).