M4.7 earthquake 90 km ESE of Luwuk, Indonesia

Saturday, August 19, 2000, 21:11:23 UTC · 1.263°S, 123.542°E

A magnitude 4.7 earthquake struck 90 km ESE of Luwuk, Indonesia on Saturday, August 19, 2000, 21:11:23 UTC, at a depth of 71.9 km (intermediate). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.9 on August 17, 2000.

Magnitude: 4.7; Light · mb
Depth: 72 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 earthquakeDashed circle: 50 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

169 tons of TNT

That is about 1/89 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 3 times more energy.

Tectonic setting

167 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: intermediate

72 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 lists 3 M2.5+ earthquakes within 50 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.5 on August 20, 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 645 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 15 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 98 recorded deaths. The most severe:

2000M7.6
Sulawesi: Luwuk, Banggai, Peleng,
4 May 2000 · 18 km away
54 deaths$30 million damagetsunami
1998M7.7
Mangole, Manado, Taliabu
29 Nov 1998 · 175 km away · intensity VII
41 deaths$200 million damagetsunami
1990M7.6
Minahassa Peninsula: Bolaang-Gorontalo
18 Apr 1990 · 283 km away
3 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)
1991M7.5
Minahassa: Gorontalo, Mamado
20 Jun 1991 · 286 km away · intensity VI
Severe damage ($5–24M)
1939M8.0
Centrtal Sulawesi: Kalo,Luwuk,Sula I
21 Dec 1939 · 153 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1859M7.3
Sulawesi
29 Jul 1859 · 260 km away
Moderate damage ($1–5M)tsunami

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

Nearby trackers