Reviewed by USGSIndonesia28y ago
M4.4 earthquake 249 km ESE of Luwuk, Indonesia
Sunday, February 7, 1999, 06:29:26 UTC · 2.096°S, 124.715°E
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 249 km ESE of Luwuk, Indonesia on Sunday, February 7, 1999, 06:29:26 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 4.4
- 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
60 tons of TNT
That is about 1/251 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 8 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
160 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Molucca Sea and Banda Sea 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 411 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 · 151 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.7264 km ESE of Luwuk, IndonesiaNovember 29, 1998 · 20 km E of this epicenter
- 7.1124 km WNW of Ambon, IndonesiaMarch 1, 1948 · 300 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.1170 km WNW of Ambon, IndonesiaJune 9, 1938 · 254 km SE of this epicenter
- 6.8161 km S of Luwuk, IndonesiaNovember 19, 1913 · 247 km W of this epicenter
- 6.7236 km WNW of Ambon, IndonesiaAugust 3, 1926 · 189 km E of this epicenter
- 6.747 km WNW of Luwuk, IndonesiaJune 30, 1964 · 297 km NW of this epicenter
- 6.753 km SE of Gorontalo, IndonesiaDecember 9, 1989 · 292 km NW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 6 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 112 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1965M7.6
Sanana Island
24 Jan 1965 · 158 km away
71 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1998M7.7
Mangole, Manado, Taliabu
29 Nov 1998 · 20 km away · intensity VII
41 deaths$200 million damagetsunami
- 1859M7.3
Sulawesi
29 Jul 1859 · 250 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1876M6.8
Buru Island, Ceram Sea
28 May 1876 · 299 km away · intensity VII
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1975M6.6
Sanana Island
5 Mar 1975 · 164 km away · intensity VI
Limited damage (under $1M)tsunami
- 1942M7.5
Minahassa Peninsula
28 May 1942 · 246 km away
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.