On Sunday Night a Significant M5.8 Earthquake struck in the Gulf Of Tomini 128km from Palu (Indonesia).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on August 15th, 2026. Last updated October 14th, 2026.

A significant MAG-5.8 earthquake struck in the Gulf Of Tomini 128 kilometer from Palu, Indonesia just after midnight of Sunday August 16th, 2026. Roughly 2.5 million people may have felt this earthquake.

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Gulf Of Tomini, right off the coast of Indonesia (8 mi offshore), 128 kilometer north of Palu in Central Sulawesi. The center of this earthquake had a quite shallow depth of 65 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Aug 16, 2026 00:25 (Makassar Time) - Aug 15, 2026 16:25 Universal Time.
Location:	128 km north of Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Coordinates 0°10'19"N 120°16'5"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.8 Detected by 30 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.057 .
Depth:	65 km (40 mi) A quite shallow depth.
Max. Intensity:	V Moderate 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

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

One person died from a heart attack at Bugis and two homes and a building damaged in Kabupaten Parigi Moutong.

Based on scientific estimates by the USGS, the risk of high fatalities for this earthquake is classified at level GREEN (low). They expect an 90% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 fatalities.

The USGS classifies the economic impact of this earthquake at level GREEN (low). They expect an 90% likelyhood of between 0 and 1 million US Dollars in economic damage and impact.

Roughly 2.5 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 2.5 million have been exposed to shaking at an MMI level of II or higher.

An estimated 539,300 people were exposed to level IV. At this level, light shaking and likely no damage can be expected. Intensity level III was experienced by the majority of people (around 1.9 million). 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
23,050	II	Very weak	None
1,927,000	III	Weak	Probably none
539,300	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 . Palu in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 128 kilometer (80 mi) north of Palu. The intensity of shaking and damage in Palu 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. Palu is located 128 km to the south and experienced an intensity of IV (light shaking, likely no damage). Samarinda is located 355 km to the west (intensity unknown, possibly low). Loa Janan is located 363 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

Cities and Towns around the epicenter of this earthquake.
Distance	Place	Intensity (MMI)
128 km (80 mi) S from epicenter	Palu Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.	IV Light
182 km (113 mi) S from epicenter	Poso Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.	III Weak
307 km (191 mi) SE from epicenter	Luwuk Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.
309 km (192 mi) W from epicenter	Bontang East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
313 km (194 mi) E from epicenter	Gorontalo Gorontalo, Indonesia.
352 km (219 mi) S from epicenter	Palopo South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
352 km (219 mi) S from epicenter	Rantepao South Sulawesi, Indonesia.
355 km (221 mi) W from epicenter	Samarinda East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
363 km (226 mi) W from epicenter	Loa Janan East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

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

Earthquake Intensity Map based on Shakemap Data provided by USGS.

Shaking reported by 3 people

People that feel an earthquake may report their experience to the US Geographic Survey. Currently, 3 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:

Samarinda, Kalimantan Timur, Indonesia: 1 person.
Manado, Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia: 1 person.
Palu, Sulawesi Tengah, Indonesia: 1 person.

2 Aftershocks detected

After this earthquake struck, 2 smaller aftershocks occurred. At a distance of 23 km (14 mi) south of this earthquake, an aftershock struck 2 days later. It measured a magnitude of 3.6

This main shock was prefaced by 1 smaller foreshock. Roughly 13 hrs before this earthquake, a foreshock measuring MAG-2.7 was detected nearby this earthquake.

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 2.7	13 hrs earlier Aug 15, 2026 11:01 (Makassar Time)	26 km (16 mi) NW from Main Shock.
Main Shock This Earthquake	M 5.8	Aug 16, 2026 00:25 (Makassar Time)	-
Aftershock	M 2.6	1 day later Aug 17, 2026 11:12 (Makassar Time)	19 km (12 mi) W from Main Shock.
Aftershock	M 3.6	2 days later Aug 18, 2026 04:03 (Makassar Time)	23 km (14 mi) S from Main Shock.

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.

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. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since June 16th, 2026, when a 6.7 magnitude earthquake hit 150 km (93 mi) further south. An even stronger magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck on September 28th, 2018.

In total, 17 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.8 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 7 months.

Low tsunami risk

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.

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

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 5.8. Earthquakes of this strength are unlikely to trigger a tsunami.	This earthquake occurred at a depth of of 65 km (40 mi). Earthquakes this shallow could trigger a tsunami.

Sources

Last updated 14/10/26 06:08 (). As more information on this earthquake becomes available this article will be updated. This article is automatically composed based on data originating from multiple sources.