M5.3 earthquake Banda Sea

A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck in the Banda Sea on Sun, Mar 29, 1987, 11:59 PM GMT+9 (14:59 UTC), 181 km (112 mi) below the surface.

Map

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

Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.

Mag.	Scale	Computed by	Notes
5.3	mb, body-wave	USGS National Earthquake Information Center	Preferred · Reviewed · 24 stations
5.59	Mw, moment	ISC-GEM global catalog	Final · ±0.34

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

Reviewed by a seismologist.

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

Within 100 km, magnitude 2.3 and up: 8 in the 60 days after this one and 3 in the 30 days before it.

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp00033rh (also filed as iscgem473330). Read Sun, Oct 4, 2026, 3:12 AM UTC.