On Wednesday Afternoon a Significant M5.5 Earthquake struck in the Maluku Sea near Ternate (Indonesia).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on February 5th, 2025.

Around noon of Wednesday February 5th, 2025, a significant MAG-5.5 earthquake hit in the Maluku Sea 90 kilometer from Ternate, Indonesia. Shaking may have been felt by a total of 1.1 million people.

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Maluku Sea, 43 kilometers (27 mi) off the coast of Indonesia, 90 kilometer north-northwest of Ternate in North Maluku. The center of this earthquake had an intermediate depth of 105 km.

Date and Time:	Feb 5, 2025 12:12 (Jayapura Time) - Feb 5, 2025 03:12 Universal Time.
Location:	90 km NNW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia. Coordinates 1°33'31"N 127°8'27"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.5 Detected by 34 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.053 .
Depth:	105 km (65 mi) An intermediate depth.
Max. Intensity:	V Moderate On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Tsunami very unlikely Earthquakes under MAG-6.5 at depths deeper than 100km are very unlikely to 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 1.1 million people exposed to shaking

The USGS has published a report estimating the number of people exposed to this earthquake. Acoording to their analysis, roughly 1.1 million have been exposed to shaking at an MMI level of II or higher.

Light shaking and likely no damage may have been experienced by an estimated 254,700 people. At IV, it is the highest MMI level this earthquake has caused. Intensity level III was experienced by the majority of people (around 730 thousand). In their region, weak shaking and probably no damage can be expected. All exposure to shaking was within the borders of Indonesia .

People	MMI Level	Shaking	Damage
0	I	Not noticable	None
64,030	II	Very weak	None
731,300	III	Weak	Probably none
254,700	IV	Light	Likely none
0	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 90 kilometer (56 mi) north-northwest of the epicenter of this earthquake, Ternate (North Maluku, Indonesia) is the nearest significant population center. The intensity of shaking and damage in Ternate is estimated to be around level III on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (weak shaking, probably no damage).

An overview of nearby towns and cities is available in the overview below. If places don't have intensity data available, it likely means the experienced impact in those places was fairly small.

Overview of nearby places

Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.
Distance	Place	Intensity (MMI)
90 km (56 mi) SSE from epicenter	Ternate North Maluku, Indonesia.	III Weak
102 km (63 mi) SSE from epicenter	Sofifi North Maluku, Indonesia.	IV Light
249 km (155 mi) W from epicenter	Tondano North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
255 km (158 mi) W from epicenter	Manado North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
261 km (162 mi) W from epicenter	Tomohon North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Earthquake Intensity Map

The graph below overlays a map of the region around the epicenter with earthquake intensity data provided by the US Geographic Survey. The highest intensity level detected for this earthquake is IV.

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 2 people in 2 countries

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

Places with most reports:

Manado, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia: 1 person.
Buayan, Southern Mindanao, Philippines: 1 person.

Aftershocks detected

Before this earthquake struck, 5 smaller foreshocks occurred. A 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit 2 days earlier nearby.

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
Foreshock	M 3.2	3 days earlier Feb 2, 2025 12:40 (Jayapura Time)	70 km (44 mi) N from Main Shock.
Foreshock	M 4.8	2 days earlier Feb 3, 2025 05:07 (Jayapura Time)	55 km (34 mi) SE from Main Shock.
Foreshock	M 3.1	1 day earlier Feb 4, 2025 03:04 (Jayapura Time)	12 km (7 mi) SW from Main Shock.
Foreshock	M 3.2	24 hrs earlier Feb 4, 2025 12:29 (Jayapura Time)	96 km (60 mi) SW from Main Shock.
Foreshock	M 3.4	16 hrs earlier Feb 4, 2025 20:26 (Jayapura Time)	23 km (14 mi) SE from Main Shock.
Main Shock This Earthquake	M 5.5	Feb 5, 2025 12:12 (Jayapura Time)	-

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 February 3rd, 2025, when a 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit 197 km (122 mi) further north-east. An even stronger magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck on July 14th, 2019.

In total, 79 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.5 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 months.

Tsunami very unlikely

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.

For a serious tsunami to occur, earthquakes usually need to have a magnitude of at least 6.5 and occur at a shallow depth of maximum 100km. Neither are the case with this earthquake. However always 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 5.5. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.	Not this earthquake. This earthquake occurred at a depth of 105 km (65 mi). Earthquakes this deep in the earth are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 05/02/25 11:38 (). 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.