M4.6 earthquake 45 km NNE of Ruteng, Indonesia

Saturday, September 12, 2026, 03:34:57 UTC · 8.263°S, 120.678°E

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 45 km NNE of Ruteng, Indonesia on Saturday, September 12, 2026, 03:34:57 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.6 on September 8, 2026.

Magnitude: 4.6; Light · mb
Depth: 10 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

120 tons of TNT

That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

12 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Sunda and Timor plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

10 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 50 km

USGS lists 9 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km since this event; the largest was M5.5 on September 21, 2026. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 607 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 21 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 3,167 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1992M7.8
Flores Region, Maumere, Babi
12 Dec 1992 · 136 km away · intensity XI
2,500 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
1820M7.5
Sulawesi: Makasar
29 Dec 1820 · 232 km away · intensity X
500 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
2026M7.7
Flores Region
14 Aug 2026 · 74 km away · intensity VII
142 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
1982M5.9
Flores Island: Eastern
25 Dec 1982 · 265 km away
13 deaths$1 million damagetsunami
2003M6.5
Flores: Reo
25 Mar 2003 · 8 km away
4 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
2007M6.5
Sumbawa Island
25 Nov 2007 · 257 km away
3 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers