Reviewed by USGSIndonesia115y ago
M6.7 earthquake 30 km N of Luwuk, Indonesia
Monday, December 23, 1912, 23:56:12 UTC · 0.676°S, 122.745°E
A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck 30 km N of Luwuk, Indonesia on Monday, December 23, 1912, 23:56:12 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.8 on March 17, 1909.
- Magnitude
- 6.7
- Strong · mw
- Depth
- 35 km
- Shallow
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
153 kilotons of TNT
That is about 10 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 320 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.
Tectonic setting
187 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Molucca Sea and Sunda plates. Earthquakes this far from a boundary happen on faults inside a plate, often less frequently but sometimes strongly.
Depth: shallow
35 km
Shallow earthquakes (under 70 km) produce the strongest surface shaking for their size, so they are the ones most likely to cause damage near the epicenter.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 100 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 100 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 2 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 5 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700. The most severe:
- 1907
Sulawesi: Lemo, Colo, Anja, Olu Congko
30 Jul 1907 · 244 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1905M8.4
Minahassa Peninsula
22 Jan 1905 · 189 km away
- 1859
Sulawesi: Manado, Belang
17 Dec 1859 · 297 km away
tsunami
- 1860
Sulawesi: Minahassa
Aug 1860 · 293 km away
tsunami
- 1871
Gorontalo
25 Aug 1871 · 134 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.