Reviewed by USGSIndonesia19y ago
M4.6 earthquake 173 km SSE of Tondano, Indonesia
Thursday, February 15, 2007, 21:47:16 UTC · 0.206°S, 125.319°E
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck 173 km SSE of Tondano, Indonesia on Thursday, February 15, 2007, 21:47:16 UTC, at a depth of 10.0 km (shallow). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M5.5 on February 13, 2007.
- Magnitude
- 4.6
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 10 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
16 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Molucca Sea and Sunda plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: shallow
10 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 M4.4 on March 2, 2007. 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 1,316 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.21965 Ceram Sea EarthquakeJanuary 24, 1965 · 279 km S of this epicenter
- 8.11939 Sulawesi EarthquakeDecember 21, 1939 · 282 km W of this epicenter
- 7.7148 km SE of Tondano, IndonesiaMay 14, 1932 · 91 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.7264 km ESE of Luwuk, IndonesiaNovember 29, 1998 · 213 km S of this epicenter
- 7.7121 km E of Bitung, IndonesiaAugust 10, 1968 · 212 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.689 km E of Luwuk, IndonesiaMay 4, 2000 · 218 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.564 km NNW of Ternate, IndonesiaJune 25, 1907 · 269 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.5126 km WNW of Ternate, IndonesiaJanuary 21, 2007 · 177 km NE of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 29 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 329 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1845M7.0
N Sulawesi: Menado, Tikala, Tomohon
8 Feb 1845 · 195 km away · intensity IX
118 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 1965M7.6
Sanana Island
24 Jan 1965 · 259 km away
71 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
- 2000M7.6
Sulawesi: Luwuk, Banggai, Peleng,
4 May 2000 · 218 km away
54 deaths$30 million damagetsunami
- 1998M7.7
Mangole, Manado, Taliabu
29 Nov 1998 · 213 km away · intensity VII
41 deaths$200 million damagetsunami
- 1855
Maluku: Ternate Island
14 Jul 1855 · 247 km away · intensity IX
34 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
- 1932M7.7
Sulawesi: Kakas,Langowan,Poso,Tondano
14 May 1932 · 91 km away · intensity VII
7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.