Magnitude 7.2 - OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA

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2012 January 10 18:36:59 UTC

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Earthquake Details

This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

Magnitude	7.2
Date-Time	Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 18:36:59 UTC Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 12:36:59 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	2.452°N, 93.209°E
Depth	20.5 km (12.7 miles)
Region	OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
Distances	423 km (262 miles) SW of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia 537 km (333 miles) SW of Lhokseumawe, Sumatra, Indonesia 951 km (590 miles) W of KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia 1789 km (1111 miles) WNW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 13.1 km (8.1 miles); depth +/- 4.8 km (3.0 miles)
Parameters	NST=440, Nph=453, Dmin=502.1 km, Rmss=0.96 sec, Gp= 18°, M-type="moment" magnitude from initial P wave (tsuboi method) (Mi/Mwp), Version=B
Source	Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D) Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	usc0007ir5

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Earthquake Summary

Earthquake Summary Poster

Tectonic Summary

The January 10, 2012 earthquake off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia, occurred as a result of strike-slip faulting within the oceanic lithosphere of the Indo-Australia plate, approximately 100 km to the southwest of the major subduction zone that defines the plate boundary between the Indo-Australia and Sunda plates offshore Sumatra. At the location of this earthquake, the Indo-Australia plate moves north-northeast with respect to the Sunda plate at a velocity of approximately 52 mm/yr.

While they are rare, large strike-slip earthquakes are not unprecedented in this region of the Indo-Australian plate. Since the massive M 9.1 earthquake that ruptured a 1300 km long segment of the Sumatran megathrust plate boundary in December of 2004, two Mw 6.2 strike-slip events have occurred within 50 km of the January 10 2012 event, on April 19 2006, and October 4 2007. These events seem to align with fabric of the sea floor in the diffuse boundary zone between the Indian and Australian plates.

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Scientific & Technical Information

Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center:
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver