Reviewed by USGSIndonesia33y ago
M4.8 earthquake 197 km SSE of Tondano, Indonesia
Saturday, January 8, 1994, 03:27:17 UTC · 0.225°S, 125.833°E
A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck 197 km SSE of Tondano, Indonesia on Saturday, January 8, 1994, 03:27:17 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.1 on January 4, 1994.
- Magnitude
- 4.8
- 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
239 tons of TNT
That is about 1/63 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 2 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
15 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Molucca Sea and Birds Head plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
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 932 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.21965 Ceram Sea EarthquakeJanuary 24, 1965 · 268 km S of this epicenter
- 7.7148 km SE of Tondano, IndonesiaMay 14, 1932 · 68 km N of this epicenter
- 7.7121 km E of Bitung, IndonesiaAugust 10, 1968 · 194 km N of this epicenter
- 7.564 km NNW of Ternate, IndonesiaJune 25, 1907 · 229 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5146 km NW of Ternate, IndonesiaAugust 14, 1986 · 237 km N of this epicenter
- 7.3108 km SE of Tondano, IndonesiaMay 5, 1908 · 91 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.1129 km WNW of Ternate, IndonesiaMay 3, 1925 · 169 km N of this epicenter
- 7.1197 km SSE of Sofifi, IndonesiaApril 16, 1963 · 262 km E of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 23 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 240 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1845M7.0
N Sulawesi: Menado, Tikala, Tomohon
8 Feb 1845 · 219 km away · intensity IX
118 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1965M7.6
Sanana Island
24 Jan 1965 · 244 km away
71 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1855
Maluku: Ternate Island
14 Jul 1855 · 199 km away · intensity IX
34 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1994M7.0
Kau
21 Jan 1994 · 252 km away
9 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1932M7.7
Sulawesi: Kakas,Langowan,Poso,Tondano
14 May 1932 · 68 km away · intensity VII
7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1994M6.8
Halmahera
8 Oct 1994 · 265 km away
1 deathModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.