Location of a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that struck off of
Sumatra, Indonesia today. (USGS)
In what has been a seemingly endless stream of significant earthquakes in recent weeks, Sumatra was rattled by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake on Friday.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) did not issue a widespread warning but cautioned that a local tsunami within 60 miles of the epicenter was possible.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the temblor struck at 11:06 pm local time (16:06 UTC) and was centered 13.7 miles below the surface. The placement puts the epicenter 100 miles west of Bengkulu, Sumatra, Indonesia or 435 miles west-northwest of Jakarta.
Today’s quake occurred 400 miles south-southeast of the infamous December 26, 2004 earthquake in the same region. That temblor was a monstrous magnitude 9.1 earthquake, the third most powerful quake since 1900. It spawned a tsunami that claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people.
Areas all around the Pacific Ring of Fire are on high alert following the recent spate of quakes. The magnitude 8.8 earthquake near Chile last month has been followed by a number of smaller events on both sides of the Pacific. A magnitude 6.4 quake struck Taiwan early this week.
Earthquake Details
| Magnitude | 6.5 |
|---|---|
| Date-Time |
|
| Location | 4.032°S, 100.806°E |
| Depth | 22 km (13.7 miles) set by location program |
| Region | SOUTHWEST OF SUMATRA, INDONESIA |
| Distances | 165 km (100 miles) W of Bengkulu, Sumatra, Indonesia 345 km (215 miles) S of Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia 415 km (255 miles) SW of Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia 700 km (435 miles) WNW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia |
| Location Uncertainty | horizontal +/- 8.4 km (5.2 miles); depth fixed by location program |
| Parameters | NST= 56, Nph= 56, Dmin=241.4 km, Rmss=1.14 sec, Gp= 94°, M-type=teleseismic moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7 |
| Source |
|
| Event ID | us2010tlbk |
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