Strong mag. 6.4 earthquake - 118 km east of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Thursday, January 29, 1987 at 02:43 GMT
Quake Data | Interactive map | User Reports | Aftershocks | Earlier quakes here | Quakes in Indonesia | North Sulawesi | North Maluku | Gorontalo | Central Sulawesi

Strong magnitude 6.4 earthquake at 48 km depth
1 Jan 00:00 UTC: First to report: USGS after 30 seconds.
Magnitude: 6.4
Depth: 48.4 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 1.265°N / 126.232°E

Antipode: 1.265°S / 53.768°W
Nearest volcano: Tangkoko (118 km / 73 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
118 km (73 mi) E of Bitung (pop: 137,400) --> See nearby quakes!
139 km (86 mi) WNW of Ternate (pop: 101,700) --> See nearby quakes!
142 km (88 mi) E of Laikit, Laikit II (Dimembe) (Kabupaten Minahasa Utara) (pop: 8,000) --> See nearby quakes!
147 km (91 mi) E of Tondano (Kabupaten Minahasa) (pop: 33,300) --> See nearby quakes!
156 km (97 mi) E of Manado (pop: 451,900) --> See nearby quakes!
159 km (99 mi) WNW of Sofifi (Kota Tidore Kepulauan) (pop: 36,200) --> See nearby quakes!
159 km (99 mi) E of Tomohon (pop: 27,600) --> See nearby quakes!
204 km (127 mi) WSW of Tobelo (Kabupaten Halmahera Utara) (pop: 10,000) --> See nearby quakes!
362 km (225 mi) ENE of Gorontalo (pop: 144,200) --> See nearby quakes!
456 km (283 mi) ENE of Luwuk (pop: 47,800) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 2.5 x 1014 joules (69.8 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 60036 tons of TNT or 3.8 atomic bombs!) | about seismic energy
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. | Depth | Location | Source |
6.4 | 48 km | Molucca Sea (Indonesia) | USGS |
User reports for this quake
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Aftershocks
[More info]
Recorded aftershocks, latest first (36 quakes)
Date and time![]() | Mag Depth | Location | Details |
Jul 12, 1987 20:29 35 years ago | 5.2 77 km | 162 km NE of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Jul 12, 1987 08:50 35 years ago | 4.8 33 km | 154 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Jul 12, 1987 08:18 35 years ago | 5.2 33 km | 159 km NE of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Jun 22, 1987 03:07 35 years ago | 4.7 33 km | 122 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Jun 11, 1987 23:48 35 years ago | 5.2 45 km | 99 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
May 31, 1987 21:18 35 years ago | 4.7 102 km | 126 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
May 26, 1987 22:26 35 years ago | 4.7 33 km | 142 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
May 9, 1987 19:10 35 years ago | 4.6 112 km | 119 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Apr 11, 1987 12:43 35 years ago | 4.8 67 km | 114 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Mar 25, 1987 15:32 35 years ago | 4.4 84 km | 145 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Mar 21, 1987 13:29 35 years ago | 4.6 33 km | 118 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Mar 19, 1987 08:31 35 years ago | 5.0 38 km | 129 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Mar 16, 1987 21:11 35 years ago | 4.8 30 km | 119 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Mar 15, 1987 08:57 35 years ago | 4.5 33 km | 116 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Mar 7, 1987 23:18 35 years ago | 4.2 33 km | 126 km SE of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Feb 28, 1987 04:00 35 years ago | 4.8 33 km | 108 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 27, 1987 21:43 35 years ago | 4.7 100 km | 91 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 26, 1987 06:37 35 years ago | 4.6 33 km | 111 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 23, 1987 23:49 35 years ago | 5.1 47 km | 115 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 21, 1987 01:05 35 years ago | 5.2 42 km | 139 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 18, 1987 14:22 35 years ago | 4.8 33 km | 109 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 17, 1987 12:42 35 years ago | 4.7 33 km | 92 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 16, 1987 22:58 35 years ago | 4.3 116 km | 101 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 16, 1987 22:20 35 years ago | 5.0 33 km | 120 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 16, 1987 20:08 35 years ago | 4.4 33 km | 122 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 16, 1987 17:45 35 years ago | 5.0 33 km | 109 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 16, 1987 17:28 35 years ago | 6.2 25 km | 130 km SE of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Feb 16, 1987 17:20 35 years ago | 4.8 33 km | 129 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 16, 1987 16:39 35 years ago | 5.0 33 km | 125 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 16, 1987 09:38 35 years ago | 5.4 37 km | 133 km SE of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Feb 14, 1987 12:08 35 years ago | 5.0 67 km | 133 km SE of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Feb 14, 1987 09:00 35 years ago | 5.2 52 km | 128 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 13, 1987 11:08 35 years ago | 4.7 33 km | 115 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 13, 1987 07:18 35 years ago | 6.8 32 km | 136 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 8, 1987 17:48 35 years ago | 6.2 17 km | 127 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 7, 1987 11:31 35 years ago | 5.0 33 km | 121 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Earlier earthquakes in the same area
Click here to search our database for earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900!