Shallow M6.7 Earthquake struck on Tuesday Morning near Palu in Indonesia.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on June 16th, 2026. Last updated July 17th, 2026.

In the morning of Tuesday June 16th, 2026, a shallow and strong MAG-6.7 earthquake hit under land 42 kilometer from Palu in Indonesia. Mag 6.5+ earthquakes at such shallow depth can cause tsunami's, but this earthquake hit under land. As it's epicenter is close to a coastal area, we still advice cautiousness.

Felt the earthquake? Share this article:

Earthquake Summary

The earthquake struck on land in Indonesia, 42 kilometer (26 mi) south-east of Palu in Central Sulawesi. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 11 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Jun 16, 2026 11:27 (Makassar Time) - Jun 16, 2026 03:27 Universal Time.
Location:	42 km SE of Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Coordinates 1°7'28"S 120°11'3"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 6.7 Detected by 56 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.041 .
Depth:	11 km (7 mi) A very shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	VIII Severe On the Modified Mercalli Scale.
Tsunami Risk:	Small Tsunami Risk Mag 6.5+ earthquakes at such shallow depth can cause tsunami's, but this earthquake hit under land. As it's epicenter is close to a coastal area, we still advice cautiousness. Always stay cautious - More info here.

Small Tsunami Risk

There is a small tsunami risk following this earthquake, as it appears the epicenter was under land, 23 km from the coast. However this was a very strong earthquake at a shallow depth that would have a very high risk at causing tsunami's if it would have occurred under sea. Stay cautious and monitor advice from local authorities.

Tsunami Risk Factors

Significant impact predicted

The US Geographic Survey (USGS) describes the impact of this earthquake as follows:

Three people killed, including one from a heart attack; 108 injured, 277 homes destroyed and 2,775 damaged, and at least 149 buildings damaged in Sigi. Two people injured, at least 80 homes and 12 buildings damaged at Palu. One person injured, 5 homes and 1 road damaged in Poso; 15 homes damaged in Parigi Moutong.

Based on scientific estimates by the USGS, the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level YELLOW (significant). They expect an 39% likelyhood of between 1 and 10 fatalities, and a 99% chance that the number of fatalities falls no higher than 1,000.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level YELLOW (significant). They expect an 42% likelyhood of between 10 and 100 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact, and a 90% chance that the economic impact of this earthquake falls between 1 and 1,000 million USD.

Roughly 5.4 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 5.4 million have been exposed to shaking at an MMI level of II or higher.

The highest earthquake impact level for this earthquake is VIII, which corresponds with severe shaking and likely moderate to heavy damage. Roughly 18,180 people are expected to be exposed to this level. The majority of people (roughly 3.4 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 . Located 42 kilometer (26 mi) south-east of the epicenter of this earthquake, Palu (Central Sulawesi, Indonesia) is the nearest significant population center. The intensity of shaking and damage in Palu is estimated to be around level VI on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (strong shaking, probably light damage).

Major cities near this earthquake: Palu is located 42 km to the northwest and experienced an intensity of VI (strong shaking, probably light damage). Makassar is located 455 km to the south (intensity unknown, possibly low). Balikpapan is located 373 km to the west (intensity unknown, possibly low).

A complete list of nearby places is included below. Estimated intensity data (MMI) sourced from a shake-map published by the US Geographic Survey is shown where available (cities without data probably experienced little impact).

Overview of nearby places

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 VIII.

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 7 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 7 people have reported shaking in 3 places, all within 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:

• Palu, Sulawesi Tengah, Indonesia: 5 people.
• Palopo, Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia: 1 person.
• Manado, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia: 1 person.

369 Aftershocks detected

This main shock was followed by 369 smaller aftershocks. At a distance of 7 km (5 mi) north-east of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 3 mins later. It measured a magnitude of 5.2

Before this earthquake struck, 1 smaller foreshock occurred. Nearby this earthquake a foreshock struck 2 days earlier. It measured a magnitude of 2.7

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 7 years

Earthquakes of this strength are not so common in the region, but it's not the first time. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since April 12th, 2019, when a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit 277 km (172 mi) further east. An even stronger magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck on September 28th, 2018.

In total, 2 earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.7 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 5 years.

Sources

Last updated 17/07/26 02:38 (). 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 us7000st95
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260616_0000071
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

Share this article: