M8.1 earthquake near Biak, Papua

What happened

A magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck 1996 Biak, Indonesia Earthquake on 17 Feb 1996, 05:59 UTC at a depth of 33 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Great. Can cause severe damage across hundreds of kilometres and may trigger tsunamis. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Biak, about 102 km away in Papua, Indonesia.