Contact | RSS | EN | DE | EL | ES | FR | IT | RU

Strong mag. 6.3 earthquake - 53 km north of Majene, Kabupaten Majene, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Friday, 15 Jan 2021 2:28 am (GMT +8)

Strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - 34 km south of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Friday, Jan 15, 2021 at 2:28 am (GMT +8)

Strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - 34 km south of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Friday, Jan 15, 2021 at 2:28 am (GMT +8) Strong mag. 6.2 earthquake - 34 km south of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Friday, Jan 15, 2021 at 2:28 am (GMT +8)

Strong magnitude 6.2 earthquake at 38 km depth

14 Jan 18:36 UTC: First to report: EMSC after 8 minutes.
14 Jan 18:40: Now using data updates from BMKG
14 Jan 18:45: Hypocenter depth recalculated from 10.0 to 38.0 km (from 6.2 to 24 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 8.1 km (5 mi) towards WNW.
14 Jan 18:55: Magnitude recalculated from 6.4 to 6.2.
Update Sat, 16 Jan 2021, 00:36

Quake kills at least 67 people

Unfortunately, the earthquake had a very severe impact. There were at least 67 confirmed fatalities and hundreds of injured people.
According to official sources, 34 people alone lost their lives in the city of Mamuju north of the epicenter, and 8 in Majene, located just 6 km (3.7 miles) southwest of the epicenter. More than 15,000 people have been evacuated from damaged homes.
Update Thu, 14 Jan 2021, 18:42

Significant magnitude 6.4 quake hits 39 km southeast of Mamuju, Indonesia early morning

6.4 quake 15 Jan 2:28 am (GMT +8)
6.4 quake 15 Jan 2:28 am (GMT +8)
An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 occurred early morning on Friday 15 January 2021 at 2:28 am local time near Mamuju, Kabupaten Mamuju, West Sulawesi, Indonesia, as reported by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG).
According to preliminary data, the quake was located at a shallow depth of 10 km. Shallow earthquakes are felt more strongly than deeper ones as they are closer to the surface. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which listed it as a magnitude 6.2 earthquake. A third agency, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), reported the same quake at magnitude 6.1.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should have been widely felt by almost everyone in the area of the epicenter. It might have caused light to moderate damage.
Moderate shaking probably occurred in Mamuju (pop. 15,000) located 39 km from the epicenter, Polewali (pop. 58,200) 58 km away, and Majene (pop. 37,700) 62 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you're in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.

Download the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app and get one of the fastest seismic alerts online: Android | iOS

Earthquake details

Date & timeJan 14, 2021 18:28:22 UTC
Local time at epicenterFriday, Jan 15, 2021 at 2:28 am (GMT +8)
StatusConfirmed
Magnitude6.2
Depth38.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude2.97°S / 118.99°E (West Sulawesi, Indonesia)
Antipode2.97°N / 61.01°W
Shaking intensityLight shaking
Felt8 reports
Primary data sourceBMKG (Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia)
Nearby towns and cities34 km (21 mi) SSE of Mamuju (pop: 15,000) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
63 km (39 mi) N of Majene (pop: 37,700) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
65 km (40 mi) NW of Polewali (pop: 58,200) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
101 km (63 mi) W of Rantepao (South Sulawesi) (pop: 40,400) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
134 km (83 mi) W of Palopo (South Sulawesi) (pop: 129,300) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
136 km (84 mi) NNW of Parepare (South Sulawesi) (pop: 140,000) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
173 km (107 mi) NW of Sengkang (South Sulawesi) (pop: 59,500) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
247 km (154 mi) NNW of Macassar (South Sulawesi) (pop: 1,321,700) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
249 km (155 mi) SSW of Palu (Central Sulawesi) (pop: 282,400) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
302 km (188 mi) SE of City of Balikpapan (East Kalimantan) (pop: 700,000) | Show on map | Quakes nearby
Weather at epicenter at time of quakeHeavy Intensity Rain 22°C (72 F), humidity: 92%, wind: 1 m/s (1 kts) from N
Estimated seismic energy released1.3 x 1014 joules (35 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 30089 tons of TNT or 1.9 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy
Show interactive Map
[smaller] [bigger]

Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies

Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
Mag.DepthLocationSource
6.238 kmSulawesi, IndonesiaBMKG
6.127 kmSulawesi, IndonesiaGFZ
6.210 kmSULAWESI, INDONESIAEMSC
6.320 kmSulawesi, Indonesia [Land: Indonesia]INGV
6.218 km32 Km S of Mamuju, IndonesiaUSGS
6.127 kmSulawesi, IndonesiaGeoAu

Seismograms

Seismic station: Tucson, Arizona (TUC/IU network) | Distance from quake: 13893 km / 8633 mi | Show on map | Station Info
Seismic station Tucson, Arizona: vertical movement plot around time of quake (source: IRIS/BUD)
Seismogram (vertical component) around time of quake. Thin dotted red line indicates time of quake. Seismic waves arrive some time later, depending on distance. Bandpass filter applied: 0.02-2.0 Hz. Source: IRIS Buffer of Uniform Data (BUD) webtool
Show more

User reports for this quake (12)

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Contribute:
Leave a comment if you find a particular report interesting or want to add to it.
Flag as inappropriate.
Mark as helpful or interesting.
Send your own user report!
Translate
Palu, Central Sulawesi (248 km NNE of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) : I felt a really subtle shaking, I thought I was just tired or something right before the report came in.  
Stabat, Kabupaten Langkat, North Sumatra (2401.7 km WNW of epicenter) [Map] / not felt (reported through our app)
Bedugul, Bali (718.1 km SSW of epicenter) [Map] / not felt (reported through our app)
Mamuju, West Sulawesi (34.3 km NNW of epicenter) [Map] / Very strong shaking (MMI VII) (reported through our app)
Tusan, West Sulawesi (43.5 km E of epicenter) [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) (reported through our app)
near Ranau, Sabah (1031.4 km NNW of epicenter) [Map] / not felt (reported through our app)
Palu, Central Sulawesi (252.3 km NNE of epicenter) [Map] / not felt / horizontal (sideways) swinging (reported through our app)
Makassar, South Sulawesi (248.7 km SSE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) (reported through our app)
Palu, Central Sulawesi (250.2 km NNE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) (reported through our app)
Mamasa (41.3 km E of epicenter) [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / both vertical and horizontal swinging / 10-15 s
Palu / Weak shaking (MMI III) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 1-2 s
makassar (248.2 km SSE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) (reported through our app)

Aftershocks

[More info]

Recorded aftershocks, latest first (52 quakes)

Date and timeMag
Depth
LocationDetails
Jun 17, 2021 09:41
1 year 40 weeks ago
3.0

10 km
21 km N of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jun 13, 2021 08:42
1 year 41 weeks ago
2.6

10 km
26 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jun 5, 2021 13:35
1 year 42 weeks ago
2.7

10 km
30 km NE of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
May 21, 2021 10:04
1 year 44 weeks ago
3.3

10 km
58 km N of Polewali, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
May 17, 2021 08:34
1 year 45 weeks ago
2.8

10 km
17 km E of Majene, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
May 5, 2021 05:48
1 year 46 weeks ago
2.9

10 km
56 km NE of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Apr 30, 2021 09:23
1 year 47 weeks ago
2.2

10 km
40 km W of Rantepao, South Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Apr 28, 2021 09:28
1 year 47 weeks ago
3.0

10 km
West Sulawesi, 51 km W of Rantepao, South Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Apr 23, 2021 15:01
1 year 48 weeks ago
2.5

10 km
45 km E of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Apr 23, 2021 03:11
1 year 48 weeks ago
3.5

10 km
55 km NE of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Apr 5, 2021 09:34
1 year 51 weeks ago
2.5

10 km
West Sulawesi, 60 km W of Rantepao, South Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Apr 4, 2021 21:48
1 year 51 weeks ago
3.1

10 km
62 km N of Polewali, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Apr 2, 2021 23:39
1 year 51 weeks ago
3.3

10 km
West Sulawesi, 48 km W of Rantepao, South Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Mar 28, 2021 17:45
1 year 52 weeks ago
2.3

10 km
West Sulawesi, 53 km W of Rantepao, South Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Mar 28, 2021 17:42
1 year 52 weeks ago
2.4

10 km
West Sulawesi, 53 km W of Rantepao, South Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Mar 9, 2021 19:50
2 years ago
3.2

10 km
56 km N of Polewali, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Feb 15, 2021 19:42
2 years ago
2.7

10 km
South Sulawesi, 36 km NE of Polewali, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Feb 8, 2021 13:58
2 years ago
2.5

60 km
19 km NE of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Feb 3, 2021 08:25
2 years ago - felt
5.1

17 km
35 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 31, 2021 12:13
2 years ago - felt
4.6

10 km
38 km S of Mamuju Island, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 27, 2021 18:43
2 years ago - felt
3.7

10 km
33 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 25, 2021 16:04
2 years ago
2.8

49 km
56 km N of Majene, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 24, 2021 20:52
2 years ago
2.6

10 km
42 km SW of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 24, 2021 16:52
2 years ago
2.4

35 km
36 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 24, 2021 02:38
2 years ago
3.1

11 km
28 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 21, 2021 11:55
2 years ago - felt
4.0

10 km
23 km SE of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 20, 2021 14:43
2 years ago
2.3

10 km
23 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 18, 2021 13:51
2 years ago
3.4

20 km
33 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 18, 2021 09:29
2 years ago
3.5

16 km
29 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 18, 2021 04:11
2 years ago
3.7

13 km
30 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 16, 2021 17:42
2 years ago
2.6

13 km
31 km SE of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 16, 2021 10:45
2 years ago
3.4

11 km
25 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 15, 2021 23:32
2 years ago
4.8

11 km
29 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 15, 2021 12:28
2 years ago
3.5

10 km
24 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 15, 2021 07:40
2 years ago
3.8

28 km
26 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 15, 2021 05:34
2 years ago
2.7

27 km
30 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 15, 2021 05:34
2 years ago
2.6

29 km
17 km SW of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 15, 2021 01:07
2 years ago
2.2

67 km
30 km N of Majene, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 15, 2021 00:25
2 years ago
4.2

10 km
35 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 15, 2021 00:13
2 years ago
2.7

10 km
22 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 14, 2021 22:17
2 years ago
3.2

10 km
26 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 14, 2021 20:46
2 years ago
3.3

10 km
26 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 14, 2021 20:28
2 years ago
3.4

10 km
22 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 14, 2021 19:59
2 years ago
3.2

10 km
31 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 14, 2021 19:31
2 years ago
2.6

27 km
41 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 14, 2021 19:25
2 years ago
3.2

10 km
27 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 14, 2021 19:11
2 years ago
3.5

10 km
28 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 14, 2021 19:02
2 years ago
3.0

10 km
28 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 14, 2021 18:55
2 years ago
2.9

18 km
43 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 14, 2021 18:48
2 years ago
3.9

13 km
30 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 14, 2021 18:41
2 years ago
4.1

10 km
23 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Jan 14, 2021 18:39
2 years ago
4.0

10 km
40 km S of Mamuju, West Sulawesi, IndonesiaMore
Show all

Earlier earthquakes in the same area

Try our free app!
Volcanoes & Earthquakes - new app for Android
Android | iOS version

Support us - Help us upgrade our services!

We truly love working to bring you the latest volcano and earthquake data from around the world. Maintaining our website and our free apps does require, however, considerable time and resources.
We need financing to increase hard- and software capacity as well as support our editor team. We're aiming to achieve uninterrupted service wherever an earthquake or volcano eruption unfolds, and your donations can make it happen! Every donation will be highly appreciated. If you find the information useful and would like to support our team in integrating further features, write great content, and in upgrading our soft- and hardware, please make a donation (PayPal or Online credit card payment).

Planned features:
  • Improved multilanguage support
  • Tsunami alerts
  • Faster responsiveness
Thanks to your past donations, these features have been added recently:
  • Design upgrade
  • Detailed quake stats
  • Additional seismic data sources
Download and Upgrade the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online:
Android | IOS
Thank you!
Sources: VolcanoDiscovery / VolcanoAdventures and other sources as noted.
Use of material: Most text and images on our websites are owned by us. Re-use is generally not permitted without authorization. Contact us for licensing rights.
Volcanoes & Earthquakes
VolcanoDiscovery Home
Volcanoes | Earthquakes | Photos | Volcano News | App
Adventure & Study Travel
Tours to Volcanoes and Volcanic Areas: walking tours, photo tours, study tours
Tours & Dates | FAQ | About us
Get our newsletter!
Company info
Contact | Legal info | Terms & conditions
Follow us
Follow us on facebook Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Twitter Visit our Youtube channel
EN | DE | EL | ES | FR | IT | RU
VolcanoDiscovery GmbH, Germany, Reg. nr.: HRB 103744, EU Tax Id: DE 310 395 322 owned and created by
Dr. Tom Pfeiffer, volcanologist, volcano photographer, tour organizer member of
IAVCEI
Volcanological Society
Ecotourism Greece
Insured by R+V
VolcanoDiscovery © 2004- All Rights Reserved | Privacy - cookie settings