Reviewed by USGSIndonesia28y ago
M3.9 earthquake 202 km E of Luwuk, Indonesia
Saturday, February 13, 1999, 19:43:42 UTC · 1.164°S, 124.598°E
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake struck 202 km E of Luwuk, Indonesia on Saturday, February 13, 1999, 19:43:42 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow).
- Magnitude
- 3.9
- Minor · 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
11 tons of TNT
That is about 1/1,410 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 45 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
102 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 645 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 · 223 km SE of this epicenter
- 8.11939 Sulawesi EarthquakeDecember 21, 1939 · 238 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.7148 km SE of Tondano, IndonesiaMay 14, 1932 · 224 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7264 km ESE of Luwuk, IndonesiaNovember 29, 1998 · 106 km S of this epicenter
- 7.433 km NW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaNovember 8, 1941 · 288 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.491 km SW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaAugust 6, 1984 · 261 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.3108 km SE of Tondano, IndonesiaMay 5, 1908 · 211 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.0134 km ESE of Laikit, Laikit II (Dimembe), IndonesiaSeptember 14, 1949 · 296 km NE 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 237 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1845M7.0
N Sulawesi: Menado, Tikala, Tomohon
8 Feb 1845 · 295 km away · intensity IX
118 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1965M7.6
Sanana Island
24 Jan 1965 · 216 km away
71 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1998M7.7
Mangole, Manado, Taliabu
29 Nov 1998 · 106 km away · intensity VII
41 deaths$200 million damagetsunami
- 1932M7.7
Sulawesi: Kakas,Langowan,Poso,Tondano
14 May 1932 · 224 km away · intensity VII
7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1858M7.3
N. Moluccas Islands
13 Dec 1858 · 287 km away
Severe damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1939M8.0
Centrtal Sulawesi: Kalo,Luwuk,Sula I
21 Dec 1939 · 220 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.