On Friday Morning a Significant M5.3 AFTERSHOCK struck in the Maluku Sea 168km from Manado (Indonesia).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on April 3rd, 2026. Last updated April 7th, 2026.

A significant M5.3 aftershock struck in the Maluku Sea 168 kilometer from Manado, Indonesia in the morning of Friday April 3rd, 2026.

Felt the earthquake? Share this article:

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Maluku Sea, 123 kilometers (77 mi) off the coast of Indonesia, 168 kilometer east of Manado in North Sulawesi. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 35 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Apr 3, 2026 10:44 (Jayapura Time) - Apr 3, 2026 01:44 Universal Time.
Location:	168 km east of Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Coordinates 1°1'1"N 126°17'17"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.3 Detected by 82 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.065 .
Depth:	35 km (22 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 . Located 124 kilometer (77 mi) west of the epicenter of this earthquake, Ternate (North Maluku, Indonesia) is the nearest significant population center.

An overview of nearby towns and cities is available in the overview below.

Overview of nearby places

This is likely an aftershock

Approximately 1 day before this earthquake hit, a larger 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck 11 km (7 mi) north of this one. For that reason, we classify the Mag. 5.3 earthquake as an aftershock.

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.

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. In total, 148 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.3 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 25 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

Sources

Last updated 07/04/26 01:38 (). 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.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake us6000sm8r
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260403_0000047
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

Share this article: