M4.6 earthquake 98 km SE of Luwuk, Indonesia

Monday, May 22, 2000, 19:46:29 UTC · 1.562°S, 123.433°E

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 98 km SE of Luwuk, Indonesia on Monday, May 22, 2000, 19:46:29 UTC, at a depth of 33.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on May 19, 2000.

Magnitude: 4.6; 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

120 tons of TNT

That is about 1/126 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 4 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

132 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 lists 7 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.7 on June 5, 2000. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.

Time after the mainshock on a logarithmic scale (first hours stretched), magnitude on the vertical axis. M2.5+ events from USGS.

Regional history

Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km

USGS lists 524 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:

History · NOAA

Deadliest earthquakes in this area

NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 10 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 95 recorded deaths. The most severe:

2000M7.6
Sulawesi: Luwuk, Banggai, Peleng,
4 May 2000 · 53 km away
54 deaths$30 million damagetsunami
1998M7.7
Mangole, Manado, Taliabu
29 Nov 1998 · 172 km away · intensity VII
41 deaths$200 million damagetsunami
1939M8.0
Centrtal Sulawesi: Kalo,Luwuk,Sula I
21 Dec 1939 · 180 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1859M7.3
Sulawesi
29 Jul 1859 · 289 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1907
Sulawesi: Lemo, Colo, Anja, Olu Congko
30 Jul 1907 · 275 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
1960
Central Sulawesi: Una-Una Island
29 Apr 1960 · 245 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)

NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.

Nearby trackers