The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake at a depth of 105.1 km beneath the Tanimbar Island region in the southern Lesser Sunda Islands to the east of Timor, slightly before 0.45 am local time on Tuesday 10 January 2023 (about 7.45 pm on Monday 9 January GMT). Quakes at this depth are seldom dangerous, but are often felt over a wide area, and this one was reportedly felt across much of the Lesser Sunda Islands, as well as Malaku, West Papua, the Kei Islands, and northern Australia.
The approximate location of the 10 January 2023 Tanimbar Islands Earthquake (USGS).
The Lesser Sunda Islands are located on the northern part of the Timor Microplate. This is trapped between the converging Eurasian and Australian Plates, both of which are being subducted beneath it. In the south the Australian Plate is passing under the island of Timor, with material from the subducted plate melted by the friction and the heat of the Earth's interior rising through the Timor Plate to feed the volcanoes of the island. In the north the Eurasian Plate is being subducted in the same way, feeding the volcanoes there.
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