Home » Special Events » Magnitude 6.8 earthquake in the Banda Sea, Indonesia

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last updated: 08/28/09 09:08.37 (PDT)

On Thursday August 27 2009 at 6:51 PM (PDT) the USArray seismic network recorded an earthquake (preliminary Mw 6.8) located in the Banda Sea, Indonesia.

Initial source parameters for this tremor are indicated below. The epicentral distance (i.e. distance separating the epicenter and the closest station in the recording network, NEW) for the USArray is 12764 km (114.70 degrees).

If you felt the quake, the USGS would like to know. Please add your comments to the USGS page "Did you feel it?".

Summary

Global map view
Solution Parameters
Local Date:Thursday August 27, 2009
Local Time: 6:51 PM PST
Universal Time:08/28/09 (240) 01:51.20 UTC
Magnitude:6.8 Mw
Latitude:-7.2100
Longitude:123.5100
Depth:627 km
Author:QED
Authoritative:yes

Proximity to Population Centers

  • 200 km (125 miles) SSE of Baubau, Sulawesi, Indonesia
  • 275 km (170 miles) NE of Ende, Flores, Indonesia
  • 1005 km (620 miles) NW of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
  • 1845 km (1150 miles) E of Jakarta, Java, Indonesia

Maps

Mercator projection regional view

The red star denotes the earthquake epicenter. Triangle symbols are active stations at the time of the earthquake in the USArray (excluding ANSS backbone stations and GSN stations, which are represented by a diamond symbol) and colored by network. Gray lines are major rivers.

Regional map view
Network Legend
 Transportable Array (TA)
 UC San Diego (AZ)
 CalTech (CI)
 Uni. Utah (UU)
 ANSS backbone stations (US)
 Global Seismograph Network (IU)

Regional satellite view

The red marker denotes the earthquake epicenter.

Detailed terrain view

The red marker denotes the earthquake epicenter.

Waveforms

Waveform picks are convoluted due to the arrivals generated by the earthquake in northern Qinghai, China that occurred within a minute of the Indonesia event.

You may view plots showing this event as recorded by USArray instruments:

3 components recorded by NEW, the closest USArray station to the event:

Latest monthly deployment map

News links

Tsunami information

Search the internet

To search the internet for more information about this event, click on the button below:

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Current seismic activity measured by USArray

Click the links below to observe near real time maps of earthquakes recorded by the USArray deployment:

Further information

Learn more about the Array Network Facility (ANF) component of USArray, the USArray experiment, the EarthScope project, and the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS).