M5.0 earthquake 51 km NE of Labuan Bajo, Indonesia

Sunday, September 13, 2026, 22:40:01 UTC · 8.186°S, 120.233°E

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck 51 km NE of Labuan Bajo, Indonesia on Sunday, September 13, 2026, 22:40:01 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.2 on September 8, 2026.

Magnitude: 5.0; Moderate · 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: 75 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

477 tons of TNT

That is about 1/32 of the Hiroshima bomb. Each whole step in magnitude is about 32 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

36 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 75 km

USGS lists 8 M2.5+ earthquakes within 75 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 619 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 20 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 3,154 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1992M7.8
Flores Region, Maumere, Babi
12 Dec 1992 · 186 km away · intensity XI
2,500 deaths$100 million damagetsunami
1820M7.5
Sulawesi: Makasar
29 Dec 1820 · 189 km away · intensity X
500 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
2026M7.7
Flores Region
14 Aug 2026 · 124 km away · intensity VII
142 deathsExtreme damage ($25M+)tsunami
2003M6.5
Flores: Reo
25 Mar 2003 · 57 km away
4 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)
2007M6.5
Sumbawa Island
25 Nov 2007 · 209 km away
3 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
2009M6.6
Sumabawa: Bima
8 Nov 2009 · 176 km away
2 deaths$2 million damage

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

Nearby trackers