Very strong mag. 6.6 earthquake - 114 km east of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Sunday, December 6, 1998 at 00:47 GMT
Quake Data | Interactive map | User Reports | Aftershocks | Earlier quakes here | Quakes in Indonesia | North Sulawesi | North Maluku | Gorontalo | Central Sulawesi

Very strong magnitude 6.6 earthquake at 33 km depth
1 Jan 00:00 UTC: First to report: USGS after 30 seconds.
Magnitude: 6.6
Depth: 33.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 1.253°N / 126.198°E

Antipode: 1.253°S / 53.802°W
Nearest volcano: Tangkoko (115 km / 71 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
114 km (71 mi) E of Bitung (pop: 137,400) --> See nearby quakes!
139 km (86 mi) E of Laikit, Laikit II (Dimembe) (Kabupaten Minahasa Utara) (pop: 8,000) --> See nearby quakes!
142 km (88 mi) WNW of Ternate (pop: 101,700) --> See nearby quakes!
143 km (89 mi) E of Tondano (Kabupaten Minahasa) (pop: 33,300) --> See nearby quakes!
152 km (95 mi) E of Manado (pop: 451,900) --> See nearby quakes!
155 km (96 mi) E of Tomohon (pop: 27,600) --> See nearby quakes!
162 km (101 mi) WNW of Sofifi (Kota Tidore Kepulauan) (pop: 36,200) --> See nearby quakes!
208 km (129 mi) WSW of Tobelo (Kabupaten Halmahera Utara) (pop: 10,000) --> See nearby quakes!
358 km (222 mi) ENE of Gorontalo (pop: 144,200) --> See nearby quakes!
452 km (281 mi) ENE of Luwuk (pop: 47,800) --> See nearby quakes!
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)
Estimated released energy: 5 x 1014 joules (139 gigawatt hours, equivalent to 1.2 x 105 tons of TNT or 7.5 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 |
6.6 | 33 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 (47 quakes)
Date and time![]() | Mag Depth | Location | Details |
May 30, 1999 02:21 23 years ago | 5.1 52 km | 130 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
May 24, 1999 13:36 23 years ago | 4.2 132 km | 152 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Apr 26, 1999 20:18 23 years ago | 3.4 33 km | 65 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Apr 19, 1999 02:12 23 years ago | 3.8 33 km | 61 km SW of Pulau Gureda Island, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Apr 16, 1999 23:27 23 years ago | 4.8 33 km | 108 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Apr 14, 1999 06:00 23 years ago | 5.2 85 km | 69 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Apr 11, 1999 03:38 23 years ago | 4.2 117 km | 109 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Apr 6, 1999 20:44 23 years ago | 3.9 33 km | 93 km E of Pulau Tahulandang Island, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Mar 28, 1999 13:40 23 years ago | 4.8 100 km | 84 km N of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Mar 1, 1999 09:10 23 years ago | 4.7 33 km | 135 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Feb 27, 1999 13:57 23 years ago | 3.9 33 km | 174 km NE of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Feb 26, 1999 20:13 23 years ago | 4.5 33 km | 69 km N of Pulau Gureda Island, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 26, 1999 07:38 23 years ago | 4.5 33 km | 62 km NE of Pulau Gureda Island, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 11, 1999 16:22 23 years ago | 4.3 74 km | 40 km SW of Pulau Gureda Island, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Feb 7, 1999 13:50 23 years ago | 4.6 33 km | 117 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Jan 30, 1999 16:56 23 years ago | 4.5 33 km | 46 km N of Pulau Gureda Island, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Jan 30, 1999 08:49 23 years ago | 5.1 33 km | 136 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Jan 29, 1999 08:53 23 years ago | 4.8 33 km | 87 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Jan 26, 1999 09:07 23 years ago | 4.5 143 km | 174 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Jan 24, 1999 22:01 23 years ago | 5.2 33 km | 116 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Jan 23, 1999 20:07 23 years ago | 4.4 33 km | 36 km SW of Pulau Gureda Island, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Jan 22, 1999 05:20 23 years ago | 5.1 33 km | 118 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Jan 13, 1999 10:22 23 years ago | 4.0 100 km | 108 km E of Pulau Tahulandang Island, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 30, 1998 04:04 23 years ago | 5.2 33 km | 115 km SE of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 29, 1998 09:02 23 years ago | 4.4 100 km | 59 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Dec 21, 1998 02:30 23 years ago | 4.8 78 km | 112 km SE of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 20, 1998 06:05 23 years ago | 4.6 33 km | 138 km SE of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 19, 1998 19:14 23 years ago | 4.4 33 km | 106 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 19, 1998 16:51 23 years ago | 4.8 33 km | 120 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 18, 1998 20:49 23 years ago | 5.2 33 km | 110 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 18, 1998 01:16 23 years ago | 4.5 33 km | 27 km NW of Pulau Gureda Island, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Dec 17, 1998 05:37 23 years ago | 4.5 33 km | 88 km N of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Dec 16, 1998 17:52 23 years ago | 4.7 33 km | 96 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Dec 16, 1998 17:45 23 years ago | 6.2 33 km | 116 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 16, 1998 16:14 23 years ago | 5.6 33 km | 123 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 16, 1998 15:53 23 years ago | 5.2 33 km | 122 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 16, 1998 15:18 23 years ago | 5.3 33 km | 94 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Dec 16, 1998 15:16 23 years ago | 4.7 33 km | 97 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 16, 1998 03:54 23 years ago | 4.8 33 km | 114 km SE of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 12, 1998 10:58 23 years ago | 4.4 33 km | Pulau Gureda, 104 km SE of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 11, 1998 23:26 23 years ago | 4.8 33 km | 126 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 11, 1998 23:19 23 years ago | 4.7 33 km | 117 km W of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Dec 11, 1998 01:52 23 years ago | 4.8 33 km | 118 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Dec 9, 1998 12:20 23 years ago | 5.0 33 km | 108 km SE of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 6, 1998 06:55 23 years ago | 4.7 33 km | 111 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 6, 1998 06:52 23 years ago | 4.7 53 km | 125 km E of Bitung, North Sulawesi, Indonesia | More |
Dec 6, 1998 03:07 23 years ago | 4.9 33 km | 111 km NW of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia | More |
Show all
Earlier earthquakes in the same area
Click here to search our database for earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900!