M6.1 earthquake near Sorong, Southwest Papua

What happened

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck 98 km NE of Sorong, Indonesia on 3 Aug 1978, 23:25 UTC at a depth of 33 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Strong. Can cause damage in populated areas up to tens of kilometres away. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Sorong, about 99 km away in Southwest Papua, Indonesia.