On Wednesday Morning a Shallow M6.1 Earthquake struck in the Maluku Sea 124km from Manado (Indonesia).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on February 25th, 2025. Last updated March 3rd, 2025.

In the Maluku Sea 124 kilometer from Manado, Indonesia, a shallow and strong MAG-6.1 earthquake occurred in the early morning of Wednesday February 26th, 2025. Shaking may have been felt by a total of 2.6 million people.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Maluku Sea, 49 kilometers (31 mi) off the coast of Indonesia, 124 kilometer south of Manado in North Sulawesi. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 10 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Feb 26, 2025 06:55 (Makassar Time) - Feb 25, 2025 22:55 Universal Time.
Location:	124 km south of Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Coordinates 0°22'30"N 124°56'28"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 6.1 Detected by 34 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.053 .
Depth:	10 km (6 mi) A very shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	VI Strong 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 2.6 million people exposed to shaking

This earthquake may have been felt by around 2.6 million people. That is the expected population size of the area exposed to a level of shaking of II or higher on the Modified Mercalli scale according to the USGS.

Moderate shaking and very light damage may have been experienced by an estimated 41,820 people. At V, it is the highest MMI level this earthquake has caused. The majority of people (roughly 2.4 million) live in an area exposed to level IV, where light shaking and likely no damage is expected. All exposure to shaking was within the borders of Indonesia .

Nearby towns and cities

This earthquake may have been felt in Indonesia . The closest significant population center near the earthquake is Tondano in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Tondano is located 104 kilometer (65 mi) south of the epicenter. The intensity of shaking and damage in Tondano is estimated to be around level IV on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (light shaking, likely no damage).

Multiple large cities are in proximity of today's earthquake. Manado is located 124 km to the north and experienced an intensity of IV (light shaking, likely no damage). Gorontalo is located 210 km to the west (intensity unknown, possibly low). Ternate is located 276 km to the east (intensity unknown, possibly low).

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

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

Shaking reported by 2 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 2 people have reported shaking in one place 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:

• Manado, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia: 2 people.

136 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 136 smaller aftershocks occurred. A 5.1 magnitude earthquake hit 14 hrs later 6 km (4 mi) south-southwest of this earthquake.

Before this earthquake struck, 9 smaller foreshocks occurred. Roughly 1 day before this earthquake, a foreshock measuring MAG-4.2 was detected nearby this earthquake.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

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.

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.

This is the strongest earthquake in 4 years

Earthquakes of this strength occur quite regularly in the region. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since June 3rd, 2021, when a 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit 150 km (93 mi) further east. An even stronger magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck on November 14th, 2019.

In total, 7 earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.1 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 year.

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

Sources

Last updated 03/03/25 22:58 (). 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.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000pvgx
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20250225_0000285
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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