Reviewed by USGSIndonesia26y ago
M4.5 earthquake 87 km SSW of Gorontalo, Indonesia
Friday, May 26, 2000, 01:34:49 UTC · 0.167°S, 122.713°E
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 87 km SSW of Gorontalo, Indonesia on Friday, May 26, 2000, 01:34:49 UTC, at a depth of 184.1 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.6 on May 24, 2000.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 184 km
- Intermediate
- 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
158 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: intermediate
184 km
Intermediate-depth earthquakes usually break inside a plate that is sinking into the mantle. Shaking spreads over a wide area but is gentler at the epicenter than a shallow quake of the same size.
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 697 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 · 19 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.8160 km W of Gorontalo, IndonesiaJanuary 22, 1905 · 149 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.875 km NNW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaApril 18, 1990 · 151 km N of this epicenter
- 7.7120 km NE of Palu, IndonesiaMay 19, 1938 · 242 km W of this epicenter
- 7.689 km E of Luwuk, IndonesiaMay 4, 2000 · 141 km SE of this epicenter
- 7.579 km NNW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaJune 20, 1991 · 152 km N of this epicenter
- 7.433 km NW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaNovember 8, 1941 · 101 km N of this epicenter
- 7.491 km SW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaAugust 6, 1984 · 24 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 19 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 244 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1845M7.0
N Sulawesi: Menado, Tikala, Tomohon
8 Feb 1845 · 300 km away · intensity IX
118 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 2000M7.6
Sulawesi: Luwuk, Banggai, Peleng,
4 May 2000 · 141 km away
54 deaths$30 million damagetsunami
- 1927M6.2
Sulawesi: Donggala
1 Dec 1927 · 232 km away · intensity VII
50 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1938M7.7
Sulawesi Island
19 May 1938 · 242 km away · intensity IX
17 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1990M7.6
Minahassa Peninsula: Bolaang-Gorontalo
18 Apr 1990 · 151 km away
3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
- 1983M6.1
Central Sulawesi
25 Oct 1983 · 252 km away · intensity VII
2 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.