Shallow M5.5 AFTERSHOCK struck on Monday Morning in the Flores Sea near Ende (Indonesia).

Written by Earthquakelist.org on August 17th, 2026. Last updated September 10th, 2026.

A shallow and significant MAG-5.5 aftershock struck in the Flores Sea 65 kilometer from Ende, Indonesia in the morning of Monday August 17th, 2026. Roughly 2.4 million people may have felt this earthquake.

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Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Flores Sea, 27 kilometers (17 mi) off the coast of Indonesia, 65 kilometer north of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara. The center of this earthquake had a very shallow depth of 7 km. Shallow earthquakes usually have a larger impact than earthquakes deep in the earth.

Date and Time:	Aug 17, 2026 08:46 (Makassar Time) - Aug 17, 2026 00:46 Universal Time.
Location:	65 km north of Ende, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Coordinates 8°17'16"S 121°28'35"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.5 Detected by 14 stations. Maximum Error Range ±0.083 .
Depth:	7 km (4 mi) A very 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:

Two persons killed, including 1 from a rockfall, and 11 injured; 1769 homes, 203 buildings and 6 bridges damaged in Ngada.

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 2.4 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 2.4 million have been exposed to shaking at an MMI level of II or higher.

The highest earthquake impact level for this earthquake is V, which corresponds with moderate shaking and very light damage. Roughly 7,700 people are expected to be exposed to this level. Intensity level III was experienced by the majority of people (around 1.8 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
46,120	II	Very weak	None
1,759,000	III	Weak	Probably none
634,400	IV	Light	Likely none
7,700	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 . Ende in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia is the nearest significant place from the epicenter. The earthquake occurred 65 kilometer (40 mi) north of Ende. The intensity of shaking and damage in Ende is estimated to be around level IV on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale (light shaking, likely no damage).

An overview of nearby towns and cities is available in the overview below. If places don't have intensity data available, it likely means the experienced impact in those places was fairly small.

Overview of nearby places

Earthquake Intensity Map

The maximum intensity (MMI Scale) caused by this earthquake is V. The map below shows in which areas this earthquake was the most and least impactful. It is based on data from the US Geographic Survey.

This is likely an aftershock

Approximately 2 days before this earthquake hit, a larger 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck 16 km (10 mi) southwest of this one. For that reason, we classify the Mag. 5.5 earthquake as an aftershock.

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, 33 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.5 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 4 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 10/09/26 00:28 (). This article contains currently available information about the earthquake and is automatically composed. We continue to update this article up to a few days after the earthquake occurred.

1. US Geographic Society (USGS): Earthquake usd0015eay
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260817_0000023
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

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