Reviewed by USGSIndonesia37y ago
M4.7 earthquake 87 km ESE of Gorontalo, Indonesia
Sunday, December 10, 1989, 07:44:32 UTC · 0.219°N, 123.782°E
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 87 km ESE of Gorontalo, Indonesia on Sunday, December 10, 1989, 07:44:32 UTC, at a depth of 182.7 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.8 on December 9, 1989.
- Magnitude
- 4.7
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 183 km
- Intermediate
- 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
169 tons of TNT
That is about 1/89 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 3 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
35 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Molucca Sea and Sunda plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: intermediate
183 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 544 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.11939 Sulawesi EarthquakeDecember 21, 1939 · 113 km W of this epicenter
- 7.8160 km W of Gorontalo, IndonesiaJanuary 22, 1905 · 244 km W of this epicenter
- 7.7148 km SE of Tondano, IndonesiaMay 14, 1932 · 234 km E of this epicenter
- 7.433 km NW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaNovember 8, 1941 · 120 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.491 km SW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaAugust 6, 1984 · 145 km W of this epicenter
- 7.3108 km SE of Tondano, IndonesiaMay 5, 1908 · 192 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1156 km NW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaJanuary 11, 1913 · 243 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.1128 km ESE of Laikit, Laikit II (Dimembe), IndonesiaJune 12, 1947 · 276 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 17 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 125 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1845M7.0
N Sulawesi: Menado, Tikala, Tomohon
8 Feb 1845 · 184 km away · intensity IX
118 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1932M7.7
Sulawesi: Kakas,Langowan,Poso,Tondano
14 May 1932 · 234 km away · intensity VII
7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1858M7.3
N. Moluccas Islands
13 Dec 1858 · 261 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1989M5.6
Molucca Passage: Morotai, Tanawangu
8 Mar 1989 · 282 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)
- 1889M8.0
N. Moluccas Islands
6 Sep 1889 · 288 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1939M8.0
Centrtal Sulawesi: Kalo,Luwuk,Sula I
21 Dec 1939 · 90 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.