Reviewed by USGSIndonesia36y ago
M4.1 earthquake 96 km WSW of Gorontalo, Indonesia
Saturday, May 5, 1990, 22:56:05 UTC · 0.344°N, 122.221°E
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck 96 km WSW of Gorontalo, Indonesia on Saturday, May 5, 1990, 22:56:05 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.1
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 33 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
21 tons of TNT
That is about 1/707 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 22 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
178 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
33 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 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 445 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 · 75 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.8160 km W of Gorontalo, IndonesiaJanuary 22, 1905 · 73 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.875 km NNW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaApril 18, 1990 · 117 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7120 km NE of Palu, IndonesiaMay 19, 1938 · 192 km W of this epicenter
- 7.433 km NW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaNovember 8, 1941 · 81 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.491 km SW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaAugust 6, 1984 · 58 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.2112 km N of Palu, IndonesiaAugust 14, 1968 · 276 km W of this epicenter
- 7.1156 km NW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaJanuary 11, 1913 · 119 km N of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 16 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 272 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1968M7.4
Sulawesi: Tambu,Coast Of Mapaga
14 Aug 1968 · 270 km away · intensity VIII
200 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1927M6.2
Sulawesi: Donggala
1 Dec 1927 · 213 km away · intensity VII
50 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1938M7.7
Sulawesi Island
19 May 1938 · 192 km away · intensity IX
17 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1990M7.6
Minahassa Peninsula: Bolaang-Gorontalo
18 Apr 1990 · 117 km away
3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1983M6.1
Central Sulawesi
25 Oct 1983 · 175 km away · intensity VII
2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1939M8.0
Centrtal Sulawesi: Kalo,Luwuk,Sula I
21 Dec 1939 · 95 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.