M4.9 earthquake Banda Sea
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck in the Banda Sea on Thu, Aug 27, 1981, 4:54 PM GMT+9 (07:54 UTC), 46 km (29 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.9 242 km WSW of Tual, Indonesia. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.9 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-08-27 07:54:55 UTC
- Depth
- 46.1 km (28.6 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 6.460° S, 129.893° E
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- FROM_LOCATION
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.9 and up: 7 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.7Pulau Pulau Tanimbar, Indonesia · 16467 days ago · 122 km deep · 72 km away
- 4.7Kepulauan Babar, Indonesia · 16465 days ago · 83 km deep · 73 km away
- 5.1Banda Sea · 16457 days ago · 146 km deep · 8 km away
- 5.9242 km WSW of Tual, Indonesia · 16450 days ago · 102 km deep · 88 km away
- 5.6Banda Sea · 16445 days ago · 173 km deep · 55 km away
- 5.4Kepulauan Babar, Indonesia · 16445 days ago · 179 km deep · 84 km away
- 5.0Kepulauan Babar, Indonesia · 16434 days ago · 154 km deep · 92 km away
Earthquakes todayLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001fh3. Read Tue, Sep 29, 2026, 5:03 PM UTC.