The M 6.5 Ambon earthquake 26 September 2019: The source mechanism and the aftershock sequence characteristics

Abstract

The area of Ambon, Maluku is located in the subduction zone in bands where the Australian plate meets the Eurasian plate, thus causing tectonic activities. The Ambon earthquake on 26th September 2019 with 6.5 Magnitude, while the Epicentral coordinates of the earthquake were determined as 3,53° S and 128,39° E and a focal depth of 10 km, according to the Agency for Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics, Indonesia. This earthquake was strongly felt at the biggest shock was felt with intensity VI-VII as unified in Ambon City, while several other areas are reported to have experienced small shaking, such as Intensity V in Masohi, and Intensity IV in Namlea and Namrole. We used a dataset of 24 waveforms of seven sensors, we determine a tabular solution, which have a large moment of 0.4573 x 1019 N-m, the depth is 6 km by minimizing the inversion residual. The method resulting strike and rake fault, with strike: 341.8°; dip; 81.5°; rake: 158.4°, and second nodal plane strike: 75.1°; dip; 68.6°; rake: 9.14°. The mechanisms were compared with those from other agency in agreement. The time decay intervals between mainshocks and significant aftershocks follow Mogi and Utsu's Law but with a relatively faster rate of decay than that of aftershocks in general.