Written by on . Last updated November 2nd, 2024.

In the Makassar Strait 154 kilometer from Palu, Indonesia, a significant M5.2 earthquake occurred in the night of Sunday October 20th, 2024.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Makassar Strait, right off the coast of Indonesia (2 mi offshore), 154 kilometer north of Palu in Central Sulawesi. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 65 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time: Oct 20, 2024 02:07 (Makassar Time)
- Oct 19, 2024 18:07 Universal Time.
Location: 154 km north of Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Coordinates 0°28'22"N 119°52'56"E.
Map: Map of area around epicenter.
Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude: MAG 5.2
Detected by 16 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.078 .
Depth: 65 km (40 mi)
A quite shallow depth.
Tsunami Risk: Low tsunami risk
Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's.
Always stay cautious - More info here.

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in Indonesia . Palu in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 154 kilometer (96 mi) north of Palu.

Overview of nearby places

Distance Place
154 km (96 mi)
S from epicenter
Palu

Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.
229 km (142 mi)
SSE from epicenter
Poso

Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.
269 km (167 mi)
W from epicenter
Bontang

East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.

Risk of aftershocks?

We have not yet detected any foreshocks or aftershocks (MAG-2.5 or higher) within 100km (62 mi) of this earthquake.

The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.

It's always adviced to be cautious of the risk of a larger shock following any significant earthquake, however this risk is fairly small. There is a roughly 94 percent change that no larger main shock will follow in the days following this earthquake.

Read: How to Stay Safe during an Earthquake (cdc.gov).

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since September 15th, 2024, when a 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit 183 km (114 mi) further west-northwest. An even stronger magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck on September 28th, 2018.

In total, 31 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.2 or higher have been registered within 300km (186 mi) of this epicenter in the past 10 years. This comes down to an average of once every 4 months.

Low tsunami risk

DISCLAIMER: We strongly suggest to closely monitor advice from local authorities with regards to tsunami risks. Our analysis is based on automatically collected data from external sources, and these might contain mistakes. In addition, earthquakes can cause landslides that may lead to a tsunami, or be a followed by another, potentially stonger, earthquake.

Based on early data it appears this earthquake was not strong enough (lower than MAG-6.5) to be likely to cause destructive tsunami's. However this earthquake appeared to have hit at a shallow depth under sea, so stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Factor Under Sea? MAG-6.5 or stronger? Shallow depth?
Explanation Almost all tsunami's are caused by earthquakes with their epicenter under sea or very near the sea. However stay cautious in coastal areas as earthquakes on land may cause landslides into sea, potentially still causing a local tsunami. Under MAG 6.5: Very unlikely to cause a tsunami.
MAG 6.5 to 7.5: Destructive tsunami's do occur, but are uncommon. Likely to observe small sea level changes.
MAG 7.6+: Earthquakes with these magnitudes might produce destructive tsunami's.
Most destructive tsunami's are caused by shallow earthquakes with a depth between 0 and 100km under the surface of the earth. Deeper tsunami's are unlikely to displace to ocean floor.
This Earthquake This earthquake appears to have struck under the sea. Not this earthquake.
This earthquake had a magnitude of 5.2. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.
This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 65 km (40 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 02/11/24 19:38 (). As more information on this earthquake becomes available this article will be updated. This article is automatically composed based on data originating from multiple sources.

  1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000nzru
  2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20241019_0000179
  3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
  4. Google Maps: Static API
  5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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