Seismo-Watch, Special Earthquake Report, Banda Sea M7.4 earthquake, October 19, 2001

Special Reports

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BANDA SEA, INDONESIA

Ms 7.3 (NEIC), Mw 7.5 (HRV), Mw 7.4 (NEIC)

01/10/19
03:28:41
4.106S
123.828E
21 km

Very strong magnitude 7.5 earthquake rocks Central Indonesia

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October 19, 2001

PADANG, SELAWESI - A very strong earthquake measuring Ms 7.3 (NEIC), Ms 7.5 (HRV), Mw 7.4 (NEIC) was detected today off the southeastern Sulawesi coast in the Banda Sea, but there have been no reports of damage or injures at this time.

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According to the National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) in Golden, Colorado, the earthquake occurred at 03:28 UTC, October 19, about 300 miles west of Ambon, Moluccas, 125 miles northeast of Baubau, Sulawesi, and 38 miles east of Monse, Wowoni Island, Sulawesi, in a remote area of the Banda Sea.

In producing their moment tensor solution, Harvard Geophysical Laboratory (HRV) reported a focal depth of 21 km. NEIC post a depth of 35 km.

The type of fault movement was nearly pure strike-slip along a east-west trending plane. (See HRV fault plane solution or the NEIC solution)

Felt Reports

Preliminary reports indicate the quake was widely felt along the eastern coast of Selawesi but there have been no report of damage or injuries at this time. Did you feel this quake?

There have been no reports of a tsunami at this time.

Background Information

This was the 14 M7 temblor recorded this year and the second in seven days. See list. It was also the largest since July 7 when a M7.6 earthquake struck southern Peru.

Additional Seismic information links:

Seismograms of the earthquake series from nearby USGS stations:

Mainstream media news reports:

Strong Undersea Quake Rocks Indonesia (AP) Friday, Oct. 19, 2001, 07:38
M6.8 quake rocks small Indonesian (Reuters) Oct. 19, 2001, 05:04
Strong quake hits Indonesia's Sulawesi (Reuters) Oct. 19, 2001, 03:32

Report update: 12:53:14 PM, Saturday, December 8, 2001