A significant M5.1 earthquake struck in the Maluku Sea 108 kilometer from Ternate, Indonesia in the late afternoon of Saturday January 18th, 2025.
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Earthquake Summary
This earthquake hit under water in the Maluku Sea, 61 kilometers (38 mi) off the coast of Indonesia, 108 kilometer southwest of Ternate in North Maluku. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 56 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.
| Date and Time: | Jan 18, 2025 17:37 (Jayapura Time) - Jan 18, 2025 08:37 Universal Time. |
|---|---|
| Location: | 108 km SW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia. Coordinates 0°5'24"N 126°42'36"E. |
| Map: |  Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps. |
| Magnitude: | MAG 5.1 Detected by 49 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.081 . |
| Depth: | 56 km (35 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 . Ternate in North Maluku, Indonesia is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 108 kilometer (67 mi) southwest of Ternate.
An overview of nearby towns and cities is available in the overview below.
Overview of nearby places
| Distance | Place |
|---|---|
| 108 km (67 mi) NE from epicenter |
Ternate North Maluku, Indonesia. |
| 119 km (74 mi) NE from epicenter |
Sofifi North Maluku, Indonesia. |
| 241 km (150 mi) NW from epicenter |
Tondano North Sulawesi, Indonesia. |
| 252 km (157 mi) WNW from epicenter |
Tomohon North Sulawesi, Indonesia. |
| 258 km (160 mi) NW from epicenter |
Manado North Sulawesi, Indonesia. |
7 Aftershocks detected
After this earthquake struck, 7 smaller aftershocks occurred. At a distance of 7 km (5 mi) south-southwest of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 1 day later. It measured a magnitude of 4.6
Before this earthquake struck, 2 smaller foreshocks occurred. A 3.6 magnitude earthquake hit 2 days earlier nearby.
Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks
| Classification | Magnitude | When | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreshock | M 3.4 |
2 days earlier Jan 16, 2025 14:37 (Jayapura Time) | 75 km (47 mi) NNW from Main Shock. |
| Foreshock | M 3.6 |
2 days earlier Jan 17, 2025 04:13 (Jayapura Time) | 63 km (39 mi) W from Main Shock. |
| Main Shock This Earthquake |
M 5.1 |
Jan 18, 2025 17:37 (Jayapura Time) | - |
| Aftershock | M 2.9 |
22 mins later Jan 18, 2025 17:59 (Jayapura Time) | 31 km (20 mi) NE from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 3.8 |
5 hrs later Jan 18, 2025 23:05 (Jayapura Time) | 5 km (3 mi) SSW from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 3.1 |
6 hrs later Jan 18, 2025 23:54 (Jayapura Time) | 7 km (4 mi) W from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 2.7 |
10 hrs later Jan 19, 2025 04:01 (Jayapura Time) | 1.6 km (1 mi) SE from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 3.3 |
16 hrs later Jan 19, 2025 09:28 (Jayapura Time) | 60 km (37 mi) ENE from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 4.6 |
1 day later Jan 19, 2025 20:20 (Jayapura Time) | 7 km (5 mi) SSW from Main Shock. |
| Aftershock | M 3.0 |
2 days later Jan 20, 2025 16:18 (Jayapura Time) | 10 km (6 mi) WSW from Main Shock. |
More earthquakes coming?
The risk of aftershocks decreases rapidly over time. Usually, aftershocks are at least one order of magnitude lower than a main shock.
In only six percent of cases, significant earthquakes are followed by a larger main shock, making the current earthquake a foreshock. While the chance of this happening is not so large, it is adviced to maintain cautiousness in the hours and days following a major 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 December 14th, 2024, when a 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit 167 km (104 mi) further north. An even stronger magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck on July 14th, 2019.
In total, 162 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.1 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 23 days.
Low tsunami risk
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 5.1. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami. |
This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 56 km (35 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami. |
Sources
Last updated 20/01/25 21:48 (). This article is automatically generated based on available data. We keep checking multiple sources for additional information. This article gets updated as new details on this earthquake become available.
- US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000pkwy
- European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20250118_0000081
- Geonames.org: World Cities Database
- Google Maps: Static API
- Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database
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