Reviewed by USGSIndonesia27y ago
M4.5 earthquake 95 km SSW of Luwuk, Indonesia
Tuesday, August 17, 1999, 19:13:22 UTC · 1.795°S, 122.585°E
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 95 km SSW of Luwuk, Indonesia on Tuesday, August 17, 1999, 19:13:22 UTC, at a depth of 49.7 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.6 on August 13, 1999.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 50 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
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
72 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Molucca Sea and Banda Sea plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
50 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 434 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 · 199 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8160 km W of Gorontalo, IndonesiaJanuary 22, 1905 · 288 km N of this epicenter
- 7.7120 km NE of Palu, IndonesiaMay 19, 1938 · 300 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.7264 km ESE of Luwuk, IndonesiaNovember 29, 1998 · 258 km E of this epicenter
- 7.433 km NW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaNovember 8, 1941 · 282 km N of this epicenter
- 7.491 km SW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaAugust 6, 1984 · 190 km N of this epicenter
- 6.977 km NNW of Masamba, IndonesiaJune 7, 1968 · 279 km W of this epicenter
- 6.8161 km S of Luwuk, IndonesiaNovember 19, 1913 · 67 km S of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 9 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 108 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1927M6.2
Sulawesi: Donggala
1 Dec 1927 · 228 km away · intensity VII
50 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1998M7.7
Mangole, Manado, Taliabu
29 Nov 1998 · 258 km away · intensity VII
41 deaths$200 million damagetsunami
- 1938M7.7
Sulawesi Island
19 May 1938 · 300 km away · intensity IX
17 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1939M8.0
Centrtal Sulawesi: Kalo,Luwuk,Sula I
21 Dec 1939 · 205 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1907
Sulawesi: Lemo, Colo, Anja, Olu Congko
30 Jul 1907 · 178 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
- 1960
Central Sulawesi: Una-Una Island
29 Apr 1960 · 188 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.