M4.6 earthquake Banda Sea
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck in the Banda Sea on Mon, Dec 28, 1981, 10:53 AM GMT+9 (01:53 UTC), 127 km (79 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.8 Banda Sea. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.6 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-12-28 01:53:02 UTC
- Depth
- 126.5 km (78.6 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 6.777° S, 129.934° 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 1.6 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.8Banda Sea · 16316 days ago · 108 km deep · 66 km away
- 4.4Kepulauan Babar, Indonesia · 16315 days ago · 163 km deep · 61 km away
- 4.8Banda Sea · 16314 days ago · 144 km deep · 21 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001hqa. Read Wed, Sep 30, 2026, 6:32 PM UTC.