Reviewed by USGSIndonesia26y ago
M4.5 earthquake 83 km SE of Luwuk, Indonesia
Saturday, July 1, 2000, 22:08:11 UTC · 1.487°S, 123.319°E
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 83 km SE of Luwuk, Indonesia on Saturday, July 1, 2000, 22:08:11 UTC, at a depth of 45.8 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.7 on June 7, 2000.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 46 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
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
135 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
46 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 2 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M4.6 on July 26, 2000. Most nearby activity right after a large earthquake is aftershocks, which usually become less frequent over days and weeks.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 547 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 · 173 km N of this epicenter
- 7.8160 km W of Gorontalo, IndonesiaJanuary 22, 1905 · 300 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.7264 km ESE of Luwuk, IndonesiaNovember 29, 1998 · 186 km E of this epicenter
- 7.689 km E of Luwuk, IndonesiaMay 4, 2000 · 51 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.433 km NW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaNovember 8, 1941 · 252 km N of this epicenter
- 7.491 km SW of Gorontalo, IndonesiaAugust 6, 1984 · 179 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.069 km N of Gorontalo, IndonesiaMay 19, 1991 · 297 km N of this epicenter
- 6.8161 km S of Luwuk, IndonesiaNovember 19, 1913 · 135 km SW of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 11 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 145 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 2000M7.6
Sulawesi: Luwuk, Banggai, Peleng,
4 May 2000 · 51 km away
54 deaths$30 million damagetsunami
- 1927M6.2
Sulawesi: Donggala
1 Dec 1927 · 293 km away · intensity VII
50 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
- 1998M7.7
Mangole, Manado, Taliabu
29 Nov 1998 · 186 km away · intensity VII
41 deaths$200 million damagetsunami
- 1939M8.0
Centrtal Sulawesi: Kalo,Luwuk,Sula I
21 Dec 1939 · 169 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1859M7.3
Sulawesi
29 Jul 1859 · 294 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1907
Sulawesi: Lemo, Colo, Anja, Olu Congko
30 Jul 1907 · 264 km away · intensity VIII
Moderate damage ($1–5M)
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.