Shallow M5.3 Earthquake hit in the Flores Sea near Labuan Bajo (Indonesia) on Tuesday Afternoon.

Written by Earthquakelist.org on September 8th, 2026.

In the early afternoon of Tuesday September 8th, 2026, a shallow and significant MAG-5.3 earthquake hit in the Flores Sea 87 kilometer from Labuan Bajo, Indonesia.

Felt the earthquake? Share this article:

Earthquake Summary

This earthquake hit under water in the Flores Sea, right off the coast of Indonesia (7 mi offshore), 87 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:	Sep 8, 2026 12:40 (Makassar Time) - Sep 8, 2026 04:40 Universal Time.
Location:	87 km NE of Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Coordinates 8°9'53"S 120°35'58"E.
Map:	Map of area around epicenter. Click to open in Google Maps.
Magnitude:	MAG 5.3 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 . The closest significant population center near the earthquake is Ruteng in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Ruteng is located 52 kilometer (32 mi) north of the epicenter.

The table below provides an overview of all places in proximity of today's earthquake.

Overview of nearby places

5 Aftershocks detected

This main shock was followed by 5 smaller aftershocks. Just 5 hrs after this main shock, an earthquake measuring MAG-4 was detected 48 km (30 mi) east of this earthquake.

Before this earthquake struck, 79 smaller foreshocks occurred. Roughly 18 hrs before this earthquake, a foreshock measuring MAG-4.6 was detected nearby this earthquake.

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.

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. This is the strongest earthquake to hit since August 31st, 2026, when a 5.5 magnitude earthquake hit 9 km (5 mi) further south. An even stronger magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck on August 14th, 2026.

In total, 53 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.3 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 08/09/26 10:38 (). 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 us7000tfr8
2. European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC): Earthquake 20260908_0000052
3. Geonames.org: World Cities Database
4. Google Maps: Static API
5. Earthquakelist.org: Historic Earthquakes Database

Share this article: