All earthquakes

M5.1 earthquake Banda Sea

A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck in the Banda Sea on Wed, Sep 9, 1981, 1:46 AM GMT+9 (16:46 UTC), 146 km (91 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.9 242 km WSW of Tual, Indonesia. This one was a foreshock.

Tual forecast

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

Open the live map with earthquakes

The earthquake

Magnitude
5.1 (mb, body-wave), moderate
Magnitude from
USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time
UTC
1981-09-08 16:46:39 UTC
Depth
146.1 km (90.8 mi), intermediate-depth
Epicenter
6.512° S, 129.940° E
Tsunami flag
No
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.1 and up: 6 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 5.9242 km WSW of Tual, Indonesia · 16453 days ago · 102 km deep · 84 km away
  2. 5.6Banda Sea · 16448 days ago · 173 km deep · 56 km away
  3. 5.4Kepulauan Babar, Indonesia · 16448 days ago · 179 km deep · 84 km away
  4. 5.0Kepulauan Babar, Indonesia · 16437 days ago · 154 km deep · 88 km away
  5. 4.1Banda Sea · 16408 days ago · 156 km deep · 54 km away
  6. 4.5Kepulauan Babar, Indonesia · 16400 days ago · 148 km deep · 86 km away

Before

  1. 4.7Kepulauan Babar, Indonesia · 16467 days ago · 83 km deep · 69 km away
  2. 4.7Pulau Pulau Tanimbar, Indonesia · 16470 days ago · 122 km deep · 64 km away
  3. 4.9Banda Sea · 16472 days ago · 46 km deep · 8 km away

Earthquakes todayLive radar here

Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001frh. Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 2:45 PM UTC.