Moderate mag. 4.9 earthquake - Timor Sea, 37 km southeast of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia, on Wednesday, 27 Jan 2021 11:13 am (GMT +8) -
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Moderate magnitude 4.9 earthquake at 10 km depth
27 Jan 03:20 UTC: First to report: BMKG after 7 minutes.
27 Jan 03:25: Epicenter location corrected by 3.5 km (2.2 mi) towards WSW.
27 Jan 05:05: Magnitude recalculated from 4.8 to 4.9. Epicenter location corrected by 1.6 km (1 mi) towards SE.
27 Jan 03:25: Epicenter location corrected by 3.5 km (2.2 mi) towards WSW.
27 Jan 05:05: Magnitude recalculated from 4.8 to 4.9. Epicenter location corrected by 1.6 km (1 mi) towards SE.
Update Wed, 27 Jan 2021, 03:24
Magnitude 4.8 earthquake strikes near Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia4.8 quake 27 Jan 11:13 am (GMT +8)
Just 11 minutes ago, a 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck near Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The tremor was recorded in the morning on Wednesday 27 January 2021 at 11:13 am local time, at a shallow depth of 10 km below the surface.
The event was filed by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), the first seismological agency to report it.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) which listed the quake at magnitude 4.9. A third agency, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), reported the same quake at magnitude 4.9.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Kupang (pop. 282,400) located 36 km from the epicenter, and Soe (pop. 27,700) 80 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.
The event was filed by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), the first seismological agency to report it.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) which listed the quake at magnitude 4.9. A third agency, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), reported the same quake at magnitude 4.9.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Kupang (pop. 282,400) located 36 km from the epicenter, and Soe (pop. 27,700) 80 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.
Earthquake data:
Date & time: 27 Jan 2021 03:13:26 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Wednesday, 27 Jan 2021 11:13 am (GMT +8)
Magnitude: 4.9
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 10.44°S / 123.8°E

Nearest volcano: Iliwerung (212 km / 132 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
37 km (23 mi) SE of Kupang (pop: 282,400) --> See nearby quakes!
83 km (52 mi) SW of Soe (Kabupaten Timor Tengah Selatan) (pop: 27,700) --> See nearby quakes!
133 km (83 mi) SSW of Kefamenanu (Kabupaten Timor Tengah Utara) (pop: 29,500) --> See nearby quakes!
191 km (118 mi) SW of Atambua (Kabupaten Belu) (pop: 35,800) --> See nearby quakes!
203 km (126 mi) SW of Suai (Timor-Leste) (pop: 21,500) --> See nearby quakes!
267 km (166 mi) SE of Maumere (pop: 47,600) --> See nearby quakes!
286 km (178 mi) SW of Delhi (Timor-Leste) (pop: 150,000) --> See nearby quakes!
294 km (183 mi) SE of Ende (pop: 77,200) --> See nearby quakes!
397 km (247 mi) ESE of Waingapu (pop: 48,800) --> See nearby quakes!
419 km (260 mi) ESE of Ruteng (Kabupaten Manggarai) (pop: 34,600) --> See nearby quakes!
300 km (187 mi) SW of Timor Island (pop: 3,182,700) --> See nearby quakes!
245 km (153 mi) SSW of Pura Island (pop: 5,350) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Moderate Rain
28°C (82 F), humidity: 89%, wind: 5 m/s (9 kts) from WNW
Primary data source: BMKG (Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia)Moderate Rain

Estimated released energy: 1.4 x 1012 joules (392 megawatt hours, equivalent to 338 tons of TNT) 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 |
4.9 | 10 km | Timor Region, Indonesia | BMKG |
4.9 | 12 km | TIMOR REGION, INDONESIA | EMSC |
4.9 | 10 km | 40 Km SSE of Kupang, Indonesia | USGS |
4.7 | 10 km | Timor Region, Indonesia | GFZ |
User reports for this quake (1)
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
969.1 km W of epicenter [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / single vertical bump / 2-5 s
Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900
- Date / time UTC| Mag |Depth|Age|Distance| Details
- 20 Oct 1938 02:19| 7.3 |90km / 56mi|83 years ago|179km / 111mi| Savu Sea, 90 km SE of Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
- 26 Jun 1953 05:42| 6.8 |25km / 16mi|68 years ago|221km / 137mi| Savu Sea, 43 km SW of Pura Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
- 25 Jun 1953 10:45| 6.8 |25km / 16mi|68 years ago|210km / 131mi| Savu Sea, 57 km SW of Pura Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
- 23 Apr 2004 01:50| 6.7 |66km / 41mi|17 years ago|160km / 99mi| Savu Sea, 108 km SE of Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
- 26 Nov 1987 01:43| 6.7 |33km / 21mi|33 years ago|247km / 153mi| Banda Sea, 22 km W of Pura Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
- 09 Mar 1951 19:44| 6.7 |35km / 22mi|70 years ago|170km / 105mi| Savu Sea, 49 km NW of Pante Makasar, Oecusse, Timor-Leste
- 28 Jun 1970 01:30| 6.6 |86km / 53mi|51 years ago|197km / 122mi| Savu Sea, 57 km SW of Pura Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
- 05 Dec 1995 06:32| 6.4 |33km / 21mi|25 years ago|184km / 114mi| Savu Sea, 26 km W of Atambua, Kabupaten Belu, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
- 19 May 1936 20:50| 6.4 |70km / 43mi|85 years ago|165km / 103mi| Savu Sea, 91 km NW of Kefamenanu, Indonesia
- 28 Aug 2018 07:08| 6.2 |10km / 6.2mi|3 years ago|60km / 37mi| Timor Sea, 97 km SE of Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia
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