M6.5 earthquake near Biak, Papua

What happened

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 32 km NNE of Biak, Indonesia on 17 Feb 1996, 20:18 UTC at a depth of 32 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 Biak, about 33 km away in Papua, Indonesia.