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M5.2 earthquake Banda Sea

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck in the Banda Sea on Mon, Sep 16, 1985, 3:28 PM GMT+8 (07:28 UTC), 86 km (53 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.9 Banda Sea. This one was a foreshock.

Lospalos forecast

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

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The earthquake

Magnitude
5.2 (mb, body-wave), moderate
Magnitude from
USGS National Earthquake Information Center
Local time
UTC
1985-09-16 07:28:21 UTC
Depth
85.5 km (53.1 mi), intermediate-depth
Epicenter
6.981° S, 129.426° 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
CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES

Nearest places

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

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.2 and up: 7 in the 60 days after this one and 2 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 5.9Banda Sea · 14984 days ago · 147 km deep · 93 km away
  2. 5.1Banda Sea · 14980 days ago · 179 km deep · 72 km away
  3. 4.9Banda Sea · 14961 days ago · 165 km deep · 85 km away
  4. 4.2298 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor Leste · 14951 days ago · 221 km deep · 47 km away
  5. 4.8Kepulauan Babar, Indonesia · 14947 days ago · 116 km deep · 63 km away
  6. 4.7265 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor Leste · 14944 days ago · 124 km deep · 72 km away
  7. 5.2296 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste · 14937 days ago · 160 km deep · 26 km away

Before

  1. 4.3Kepulauan Babar, Indonesia · 15012 days ago · 153 km deep · 27 km away
  2. 3.8Banda Sea · 15014 days ago · 167 km deep · 8 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0002jtr. Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 11:48 AM UTC.