M6.2 earthquake 135 km WNW of Ternate, Indonesia

Saturday, March 17, 2007, 17:42:26 UTC · 1.132°N, 126.216°E

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck 135 km WNW of Ternate, Indonesia on Saturday, March 17, 2007, 17:42:26 UTC, at a depth of 35.0 km (shallow). USGS received 2 “Did You Feel It?” reports, with a maximum reported intensity of IV (light). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M6.7 on February 20, 2007.

Magnitude: 6.2; Strong · mwb
Depth: 35 km; Shallow
Felt reports: 2; Max intensity IV
Est. shaking: —; No ShakeMap
PAGER alert: None; Not issued
Tsunami: No flag; USGS feed

Outlined circle: this earthquakeDashed circle: 100 km aftershock search area

In context

How big was it, and why here?

Energy released

30 kilotons of TNT

That is about 2 times the Hiroshima bomb. It released about 63 times the energy of a magnitude 5.0.

Tectonic setting

2 km

from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Molucca Sea and Birds Head plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.

Depth: shallow

35 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

Reports sent by people to USGS, grouped by place (most reports first). Intensity uses the Modified Mercalli scale (I–X): what people felt, not the magnitude.

Place	Intensity	Reports	Distance
Manado, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia	IV · Light	2	162 km

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 100 km

USGS lists 12 M2.5+ earthquakes within 100 km in the following 30 days; the largest was M5.5 on April 2, 2007. 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 1,747 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 26 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 2,978 recorded deaths. The most severe:

1856
Sangihe Pulau (Volcanic)
2 Mar 1856 · 293 km away
2,806 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
1845M7.0
N Sulawesi: Menado, Tikala, Tomohon
8 Feb 1845 · 157 km away · intensity IX
118 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1855
Maluku: Ternate Island
14 Jul 1855 · 126 km away · intensity IX
34 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)
1994M7.0
Kau
21 Jan 1994 · 169 km away
9 deathsModerate damage ($1–5M)tsunami
1932M7.7
Sulawesi: Kakas,Langowan,Poso,Tondano
14 May 1932 · 91 km away · intensity VII
7 deathsSevere damage ($5–24M)tsunami
2007M7.5
Molucca Islands: N
21 Jan 2007 · 10 km away
4 deathsLimited damage (under $1M)

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

Nearby trackers