On Monday Evening a Shallow M5.5 Earthquake struck in the Banda Sea near Amahai (Indonesia).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on December 16th, 2024. Last updated December 21st, 2024.

A shallow and significant MAG-5.5 earthquake struck in the Banda Sea 62 kilometer from Amahai, Indonesia in the evening of Monday December 16th, 2024. Shaking may have been felt by a total of 1.2 million people.

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Banda Sea, 39 kilometers (24 mi) off the coast of Indonesia, 62 kilometer south-east of Amahai in Maluku. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 26 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Dec 16, 2024 19:14 (Jayapura Time) - Dec 16, 2024 10:14 Universal Time.
Location:	62 km SE of Amahai, Maluku, Indonesia. Coordinates 3°46'7"S 129°16'25"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.5 Detected by 23 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.065 .
Depth:	26 km (16 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	V Moderate On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Minimal impact predicted

Based on scientific estimates by the US Geographic Survey (USGS), the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 fatalities, and a 96% chance that the number of fatalities falls no higher than 10.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact, and a 96% chance that the economic impact of this earthquake falls no higher than 10 million USD.

Roughly 1.2 million people exposed to shaking

An estimated 1.2 million have been exposed to shaking (An MMI or Modified Mercalli Intensity level II or higher) as a result of this earthquake according scientific estimates published by the USGS.

An estimated 255,000 people were exposed to level IV. At this level, light shaking and likely no damage can be expected. Intensity level III was experienced by the majority of people (around 0.9 million). In their region, weak shaking and probably no damage can be expected. All exposure to shaking was within the borders of Indonesia .

People	MMI Level	Shaking	Damage
0	I	Not noticable	None
5,210	II	Very weak	None
890,400	III	Weak	Probably none
255,000	IV	Light	Likely none
0	V	Moderate	Very light
0	VI	Strong	Light
0	VII	Very Strong	Moderate
0	VIII	Severe	Moderate to heavy
0	IX	Violent	Heavy
0	X	Extreme	Very heavy

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in Indonesia . The closest significant population center near the earthquake is Amahai in Maluku, Indonesia. Amahai is located 62 kilometer (39 mi) south-east of the epicenter. The intensity of shaking and damage in Amahai is estimated to be around level IV on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (light shaking, likely no damage).

Overview of nearby places

Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.
Distance	Place	Intensity (MMI)
62 km (39 mi) NW from epicenter	Amahai Maluku, Indonesia.	IV Light
121 km (75 mi) W from epicenter	Ambon Maluku, Indonesia.	III Weak

Earthquake Intensity Map

The intensity in shaking and damage by this earthquake is illustrated through the map below. The highest intensity measured for this earthquake is IV.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Earthquake Intensity Map based on Shakemap Data provided by USGS.

3 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 3 smaller aftershocks occurred. At a distance of 24 km (15 mi) north-northeast of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 1 day later. It measured a magnitude of 4.4

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

Detected MAG2.5+ earthquakes within within 100km (62 mi), that occurred in the three days before and after the main shock.
Classification	Magnitude	When	Where
Main Shock This Earthquake	M 5.5	Dec 16, 2024 19:14 (Jayapura Time)	-
Aftershock	M 3.9	3 hrs later Dec 16, 2024 22:33 (Jayapura Time)	8 km (5 mi) W from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 4.0	18 hrs later Dec 17, 2024 13:31 (Jayapura Time)	60 km (37 mi) W from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 4.4	1 day later Dec 18, 2024 05:56 (Jayapura Time)	24 km (15 mi) NNE from Main Shock.

More earthquakes coming?

Aftershocks are usually at least 1 order of magnitude less strong than main shocks. The more time passes, the smaller the chance and likely strength of any potential aftershocks.

In only six percent of cases, significant earthquakes are followed by a larger main shock, making the current earthquake a foreshock. While the chance of this happening is not so large, it is adviced to maintain cautiousness in the hours and days following a major earthquake.

Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since May 5th, 2024, when a 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit 192 km (119 mi) further east-northeast. An even stronger magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck on June 24th, 2019.

In total, 34 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.5 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every 4 months.

Low tsunami risk

DISCLAIMER: We strongly suggest to closely monitor advice from local authorities with regards to tsunami risks. Our analysis is based on automatically collected data from external sources, and these might contain mistakes. In addition, earthquakes can cause landslides that may lead to a tsunami, or be a followed by another, potentially stonger, earthquake.

Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Factor	Under Sea?	MAG-6.5 or stronger?	Shallow depth?
Explanation	Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami.	Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami. MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes. MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's.	Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor.
This Earthquake	This earthquake appears to have struck under the sea.	Not this earthquake. This earthquake had a magnitude of 5.5. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.	This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 26 km (16 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 21/12/24 09:28 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.