On Friday Evening a Significant M5.7 Earthquake struck in the Indian Ocean 174km from Medan (Indonesia).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on January 31st, 2025. Last updated March 14th, 2025.

In the evening of Friday January 31st, 2025, a significant M5.7 earthquake hit in the Indian Ocean 174 kilometer from Medan, Indonesia. Shaking may have been felt by a total of 11 million people.

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Indian Ocean, right off the coast of Indonesia (2 mi offshore), 174 kilometer west-southwest of Medan in North Sumatra. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 53 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jan 31, 2025 18:03 (Jakarta Time) - Jan 31, 2025 11:03 Universal Time.
Location:	174 km WSW of Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Coordinates 3°16'9"N 97°7'41"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.7 Detected by 21 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.068 .
Depth:	53 km (33 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	V Moderate On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Low tsunami risk Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 do not usually cause tsunami's. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Minimal impact predicted

Based on scientific estimates by the US Geographic Survey (USGS), the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 fatalities, and a 96% chance that the number of fatalities falls no higher than 10.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level GREEN (low). They expect an 65% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact, and a 96% chance that the economic impact of this earthquake falls no higher than 10 million USD.

Roughly 11 million people exposed to shaking

An estimated 11 million have been exposed to shaking (An MMI or Modified Mercalli Intensity level II or higher) as a result of this earthquake according scientific estimates published by the USGS.

The highest earthquake impact level for this earthquake is V, which corresponds with moderate shaking and very light damage. Roughly 9,020 people are expected to be exposed to this level. The majority of people (roughly 10 million) live in an area exposed to level III, where weak shaking and probably no damage is expected. All exposure to shaking was within the borders of Indonesia .

People	MMI Level	Shaking	Damage
0	I	Not noticable	None
388,300	II	Very weak	None
9,866,000	III	Weak	Probably none
832,400	IV	Light	Likely none
9,020	V	Moderate	Very light
0	VI	Strong	Light
0	VII	Very Strong	Moderate
0	VIII	Severe	Moderate to heavy
0	IX	Violent	Heavy
0	X	Extreme	Very heavy

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in Indonesia . Located 132 kilometer (82 mi) northwest of the epicenter of this earthquake, Singkil (Aceh, Indonesia) is the nearest significant population center. The intensity of shaking and damage in Singkil is estimated to be around level IV on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (light shaking, likely no damage).

Major cities near this earthquake: Medan is located 174 km to the east-northeast and experienced an intensity of III (weak shaking, probably no damage). Percut is located 197 km to the east-northeast and experienced an intensity of III (weak shaking, probably no damage). Binjai is located 155 km to the east-northeast and experienced an intensity of III (weak shaking, probably no damage).

The table below provides an overview of all places in proximity of today's earthquake. Where available, the estimated intensity on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale in each place is included. Places where this information is omitted likely experienced little impact.

Overview of nearby places

Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.
Distance	Place	Intensity (MMI)
132 km (82 mi) SE from epicenter	Singkil Aceh, Indonesia.	IV Light
148 km (92 mi) NW from epicenter	Meulaboh Aceh, Indonesia.	III Weak
152 km (94 mi) E from epicenter	Kabanjahe North Sumatra, Indonesia.	III Weak
153 km (95 mi) NE from epicenter	Pangkalan Brandan North Sumatra, Indonesia.	III Weak
154 km (96 mi) E from epicenter	Berastagi North Sumatra, Indonesia.	III Weak
155 km (96 mi) ENE from epicenter	Binjai North Sumatra, Indonesia.	III Weak
156 km (97 mi) ENE from epicenter	Stabat North Sumatra, Indonesia.	III Weak
160 km (99 mi) ESE from epicenter	Tongging North Sumatra, Indonesia.	III Weak
163 km (101 mi) NE from epicenter	Langsa Aceh, Indonesia.	III Weak
164 km (102 mi) ENE from epicenter	Tanjungtiram North Sumatra, Indonesia.	III Weak
169 km (105 mi) ENE from epicenter	Sunggal North Sumatra, Indonesia.	III Weak
174 km (108 mi) ENE from epicenter	Medan North Sumatra, Indonesia.	III Weak
175 km (109 mi) E from epicenter	Deli Tua North Sumatra, Indonesia.	III Weak
179 km (111 mi) ENE from epicenter	Labuhan Deli North Sumatra, Indonesia.	III Weak
182 km (113 mi) ENE from epicenter	Belawan North Sumatra, Indonesia.	III Weak
197 km (122 mi) ENE from epicenter	Percut North Sumatra, Indonesia.	III Weak
206 km (128 mi) E from epicenter	Perbaungan North Sumatra, Indonesia.
212 km (132 mi) N from epicenter	Lhokseumawe Aceh, Indonesia.
218 km (135 mi) E from epicenter	Pematangsiantar North Sumatra, Indonesia.
220 km (137 mi) NNW from epicenter	Bireun Aceh, Indonesia.
226 km (140 mi) E from epicenter	Tebingtinggi North Sumatra, Indonesia.
228 km (142 mi) E from epicenter	Pekan Bahapal North Sumatra, Indonesia.
236 km (147 mi) NNW from epicenter	Reuleuet Aceh, Indonesia.
250 km (155 mi) SE from epicenter	Sibolga North Sumatra, Indonesia.	II Weak
268 km (167 mi) NNW from epicenter	Sigli Aceh, Indonesia.
278 km (173 mi) E from epicenter	Kisaran North Sumatra, Indonesia.
299 km (186 mi) E from epicenter	Tanjungbalai North Sumatra, Indonesia.
300 km (186 mi) E from epicenter	Teluk Nibung North Sumatra, Indonesia.

Earthquake Intensity Map

The intensity in shaking and damage by this earthquake is illustrated through the map below. The highest intensity measured for this earthquake is V.

I Not felt

II Weak

III Weak

IV Light

V Moderate

VI Strong

VII Very Strong

VIII Severe

IX Violent

X Extreme

Earthquake Intensity Map based on Shakemap Data provided by USGS.

Shaking reported by 3 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 3 people have reported shaking in 2 places in Indonesia.We keep updating this article as more ground reports become available. You may report that you felt this earthquake here.

Places with most reports:

Banda Aceh, Aceh, Indonesia: 2 people.
Medan, Sumatera Utara, Indonesia: 1 person.

7 Aftershocks detected

This main shock was followed by 7 smaller aftershocks. At a distance of 21 km (13 mi) southwest of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 14 mins later. It measured a magnitude of 3.8

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

Detected MAG2.5+ earthquakes within within 100km (62 mi), that occurred in the three days before and after the main shock.
Classification	Magnitude	When	Where
Main Shock This Earthquake	M 5.7	Jan 31, 2025 18:03 (Jakarta Time)	-
Aftershock	M 3.8	14 mins later Jan 31, 2025 18:17 (Jakarta Time)	21 km (13 mi) SW from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 2.7	21 mins later Jan 31, 2025 18:24 (Jakarta Time)	28 km (18 mi) SW from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 2.7	1 day later Feb 1, 2025 21:11 (Jakarta Time)	38 km (23 mi) SW from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 2.7	1 day later Feb 1, 2025 23:37 (Jakarta Time)	76 km (47 mi) SE from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 3.5	1 day later Feb 2, 2025 05:49 (Jakarta Time)	83 km (52 mi) SSW from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 3.3	2 days later Feb 3, 2025 04:17 (Jakarta Time)	20 km (12 mi) SW from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 2.8	2 days later Feb 3, 2025 04:37 (Jakarta Time)	83 km (52 mi) NNE from Main Shock.

More earthquakes coming?

Earthquakes can create aftershocks. These are generally at least 1 magnitude lower than any main shock, and as time passes the chance and strength of aftershocks decreases.

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 are common in the region

Earthquakes of this strength occur quite regularly in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since January 15th, 2023, when a 6.1 magnitude earthquake hit 173 km (107 mi) further south-east. An even stronger magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck on December 6th, 2016.

In total, 5 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.7 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 2 years.

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 5.7. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.	This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 53 km (33 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 14/03/25 03:08 (). 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.