Shallow M5.1 AFTERSHOCK hit in the Flores Sea near Ende (Indonesia) on Monday Morning.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on August 17th, 2026. Last updated September 9th, 2026.

A shallow and significant Magnitude 5.1 aftershock struck in the Flores Sea 87 kilometer from Ende, Indonesia around noon of Monday August 17th, 2026.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Flores Sea, right off the coast of Indonesia (12 mi offshore), 87 kilometer northwest of Ende 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 17, 2026 11:48 (Makassar Time) - Aug 17, 2026 03:48 Universal Time.
Location:	87 km NW of Ende, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Coordinates 8°15'29"S 121°8'24"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.1 Detected by 8 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.11 .
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 84 kilometer (52 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 2 days before this earthquake hit, a larger 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck 25 km (16 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.

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, 59 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 09/09/26 06:08 (). 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 usd0015ebj
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260817_0000130
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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