On Monday Evening a Shallow M5.2 AFTERSHOCK struck in the Flores Sea near Labuan Bajo (Indonesia).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on August 17th, 2026.

A shallow and significant MAG-5.2 aftershock struck in the Flores Sea 97 kilometer from Labuan Bajo, Indonesia in the evening of Monday August 17th, 2026.

Felt the earthquake? Share this article:

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Flores Sea, 42 kilometers (26 mi) off the coast of Indonesia, 97 kilometer north-east of Labuan Bajo 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 18:42 (Makassar Time) - Aug 17, 2026 10:42 Universal Time.
Location:	97 km NE of Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Coordinates 7°52'34"S 120°30'7"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.2 Detected by 36 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.095 .
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 82 kilometer (51 mi) north of the epicenter of this earthquake, Ruteng (East Nusa Tenggara, 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

This earthquake was an aftershock. A larger mag. 5.9 earthquake struck 60 km (37 mi) southwest in advance of this 5.2 earthquake around 3 days earlier.

Overview of foreshocks and aftershocks

More earthquakes coming?

Aftershocks are usually at least 1 order of magnitude less strong than main shocks. The more time passes, the smaller the chance and likely strength of any potential aftershocks.

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, 43 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.2 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 3 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 17/08/26 12:28 (). 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.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake usd0015ed7
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260817_0000352
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

Share this article: