Strong mag. 5.6 earthquake - Offshore Northern WA, Indian Ocean, Australia, on Friday, 29 January 2021 at 19:47 (GMT) - information
Strong mag. 5.6 earthquake - Indian Ocean, Australia, on Saturday, 30 Jan 2021 3:47 am (GMT +8)
-Quake Data | Interactive map | User Reports | Aftershocks | Earlier quakes in same area | Quakes in Australia | Quakes in Indonesia| Australia Ocidental | East Nusa Tenggara

Strong magnitude 5.6 earthquake at 10 km depth
29 Jan 19:54 UTC: First to report: EMSC after 6 minutes.
29 Jan 19:56: Magnitude recalculated from 6.4 to 6.0. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 94.0 to 91.0 km (from 58 to 57 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 4 km (2.5 mi) towards NNE.
31 Jan 22:17: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 20.0 to 10.0 km (from 12.4 to 6.2 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 2 km (1.3 mi) towards NNW.
29 Jan 19:56: Magnitude recalculated from 6.4 to 6.0. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 94.0 to 91.0 km (from 58 to 57 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 4 km (2.5 mi) towards NNE.
31 Jan 22:17: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 20.0 to 10.0 km (from 12.4 to 6.2 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 2 km (1.3 mi) towards NNW.
Date & time: 29 Jan 2021 19:47:56 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Saturday, 30 Jan 2021 3:47 am (GMT +8)
Magnitude: 5.6
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 13.924°S / 121.827°E

Nearby towns and cities:
422 km (263 mi) NNW of Derby (pop: 4,110) --> See nearby quakes!
434 km (270 mi) NNW of Meda (pop: 58) --> See nearby quakes!
435 km (270 mi) N of Waterbank (pop: 276) --> See nearby quakes!
451 km (280 mi) N of Broome (pop: 5,310) --> See nearby quakes!
460 km (286 mi) SSW of Kupang (Indonesia) (pop: 282,400) --> See nearby quakes!
528 km (328 mi) NW of King Leopold Ranges (pop: 766) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Overcast Clouds
29.2°C (85 F), humidity: 79%, wind: 10 m/s (19 kts) from W
Primary data source: GeoAu (Geoscience Australia )Overcast Clouds

Estimated released energy: 1.6 x 1013 joules (4.4 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 3788 tons of TNT or 0.2 atomic bombs!) More info
Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies
Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
Magnitude | Depth | Location | Source |
M 5.6 | 10 km | Offshore Northern WA, Indian Ocean, Australia | GeoAu |
M 5.6 | 10 km | Northwest of Australia | GFZ |
M 6.0 | 10 km | Northwest of Australia | BMKG |
M 5.6 | 10 km | Northwest of Australia | USGS |
M 5.6 | 2 km | NORTHWEST OF AUSTRALIA | EMSC |
User reports for this quake (3)
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
770.8 km ESE of epicenter [Map] / not felt
Johnston / not felt
Bundoora. Melbourne. Victoria. / not felt
Aftershocks
More info
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (1 quakes):- 05 Feb 2021 13:54 UTC| M 3.2 |10 km (6.2 mi) depth|4 km (2 mi) distance| GeoAu | Details
Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900
- Date / time UTC| Mag |Depth|Age|Distance| Details
- 12 Oct 1966 00:06| 6.0 |20km / 12.4mi|54 years ago|238km / 148mi| Indian Ocean, 284 km SW of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
- 19 Apr 2013 17:51| 5.7 |18.9km / 11.7mi|8 years ago|221km / 137mi| Indian Ocean, 290 km SW of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
- 18 Jun 1989 15:49| 5.2 |33km / 21mi|32 years ago|167km / 104mi| Indian Ocean, Indonesia
- 07 Apr 1989 18:45| 5.2 |33km / 21mi|32 years ago|161km / 100mi| Indian Ocean, Indonesia
- 12 Nov 1998 19:19| 4.9 |33km / 21mi|22 years ago|102km / 63mi| Indian Ocean, Indonesia
- 23 Feb 2005 19:35| 4.6 |10km / 6.2mi|16 years ago|84km / 52mi| Indian Ocean, Australia
- 26 Dec 2005 20:40| 4.5 |35km / 22mi|15 years ago|92km / 57mi| Indian Ocean, Australia
- 01 Feb 2006 00:14| 4.3 |10km / 6.2mi|15 years ago|104km / 65mi| Indian Ocean, Australia
- 08 Mar 2005 04:54| 4.2 |10km / 6.2mi|16 years ago|93km / 58mi| Indian Ocean, Australia
- 08 Feb 2000 13:37| 4.2 |33km / 21mi|21 years ago|72km / 45mi| Indian Ocean, Indonesia
- 06 Nov 1987 13:36| 4.2 |10km / 6.2mi|33 years ago|142km / 89mi| Indian Ocean, Australia
- 14 Dec 1981 11:59| 4.1 |33km / 21mi|39 years ago|104km / 64mi| Indian Ocean, Australia
- 28 Sep 1987 15:00| 4.0 |33km / 21mi|33 years ago|87km / 54mi| Indian Ocean, Indonesia
- 04 Aug 2019 20:31| 3.5 |10km / 6.2mi|1 year 30 weeks ago|50km / 31mi| Indian Ocean, Australia
- 02 Jan 2020 00:53| 3.4 |10km / 6.2mi|1 year 8 weeks ago|97km / 60mi| Indian Ocean, Australia
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