Shallow M5.1 AFTERSHOCK hit in the Flores Sea near Ruteng (Indonesia) on Saturday Afternoon.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on August 15th, 2026.

A shallow and significant Magnitude 5.1 aftershock struck in the Flores Sea 72 kilometer from Ruteng, Indonesia in the afternoon of Saturday August 15th, 2026.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Flores Sea, 29 kilometers (18 mi) off the coast of Indonesia, 72 kilometer north-east of Ruteng in East Nusa Tenggara. 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:	Aug 15, 2026 15:39 (Makassar Time) - Aug 15, 2026 07:39 Universal Time.
Location:	72 km NE of Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Coordinates 8°2'41"S 120°46'35"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.1 Detected by 50 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.081 .
Depth:	10 km (6 mi) A very 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 72 kilometer (45 mi) north-east of the epicenter of this earthquake, Ruteng (East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia) is the nearest significant population center.

A complete list of nearby places is included below.

Overview of nearby places

This is likely an aftershock

Approximately 10 hrs before this earthquake hit, a larger 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck 70 km (43 mi) south-east of this one. For that reason, we classify the Mag. 5.1 earthquake as an aftershock.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

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.

Earthquakes like this happen often in the region

Earthquakes of this strength are very common in the region. In total, 50 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.1 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 2 months.

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 15/08/26 09:18 (). 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 us6000tkx5
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260815_0000280
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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