Light mag. 4.2 earthquake - Maluku Sea, 27 km southwest of Nusa Sidanga Island, Maluku Utara, Indonesia, on Sunday, 27 Dec 2020 8:36 am (GMT +9) -

Light mag. 4.2 earthquake - Maluku Sea, 27 km southwest of Nusa Sidanga Island, Maluku Utara, Indonesia, on Sunday, 27 Dec 2020 8:36 am (GMT +9)

Light magnitude 4.2 earthquake at 148 km depth

26 Dec 23:45 UTC: First to report: BMKG after 9 minutes.
27 Dec 08:45: Magnitude recalculated from 4.4 to 4.2. Hypocenter depth recalculated from 151.0 to 148.0 km (from 94 to 92 mi). Epicenter location corrected by 1.1 km (0.7 mi) towards N.
Update Sat, 26 Dec 2020, 23:51
Light magnitude 4.4 earthquake 85 km north of Ternate, Indonesia
4.4 quake 27 Dec 8:36 am (GMT +9)
4.4 quake 27 Dec 8:36 am (GMT +9)
Just 15 minutes ago, a 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck near Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia. The tremor was recorded in the morning on Sunday 27 December 2020 at 8:36 am local time, at an intermediate to considerable depth of 151 km below the surface.
The event was filed by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), the first seismological agency to report it.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) which listed the quake at magnitude 4.4 as well.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Tobelo (pop. 10,000) located 85 km from the epicenter. In Ternate (pop. 101,700, 85 km away), and Sofifi (pop. 36,200, 96 km away), the quake was probably not felt.
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 to get one of the fastest seismic alerts online:
Android | IOS

Earthquake data:

Date & time: 26 Dec 2020 23:36:21 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Sunday, 27 Dec 2020 8:36 am (GMT +9)
Magnitude: 4.2
Depth: 148.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 1.56°N / 127.27°E (Maluku Sea, Indonesia)
Nearest volcano: Gamkonora (34 km / 21 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
84 km (52 mi) WSW of Tobelo (Kabupaten Halmahera Utara) (pop: 10,000) --> See nearby quakes!
87 km (54 mi) N of Ternate (pop: 101,700) --> See nearby quakes!
97 km (60 mi) NNW of Sofifi (Kota Tidore Kepulauan) (pop: 36,200) --> See nearby quakes!
232 km (144 mi) E of Bitung (pop: 137,400) --> See nearby quakes!
255 km (159 mi) E of Laikit, Laikit II (Dimembe) (Kabupaten Minahasa Utara) (pop: 8,000) --> See nearby quakes!
264 km (164 mi) E of Tondano (Kabupaten Minahasa) (pop: 33,300) --> See nearby quakes!
269 km (167 mi) E of Manado (pop: 451,900) --> See nearby quakes!
276 km (171 mi) E of Tomohon (pop: 27,600) --> See nearby quakes!
482 km (299 mi) ENE of Gorontalo (pop: 144,200) --> See nearby quakes!
520 km (323 mi) WNW of Sorong (pop: 125,500) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Overcast Clouds 27.8°C (82 F), humidity: 74%, wind: 2 m/s (4 kts) from SSW
Primary data source: BMKG (Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia)
Estimated released energy: 1.3 x 1011 joules (35 megawatt hours, equivalent to 30.1 tons of TNT) More info
Show interactive Map
[smaller] [bigger]
If you felt this quake (or if you were near the epicenter), please share your experience and submit a short "I felt it" report! Other users would love to hear about it!
Also if you did NOT feel the quake although you were in the area, please report it! Your contribution is valuable also to earthquake science and earthquake hazard analysis and mitigation efforts. You can use your device location or the map to indicate where you were during the earthquake. Thank you!

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.
MagnitudeDepthLocationSource
M 4.2148 kmHalmahera, IndonesiaBMKG
M 4.4151 kmHALMAHERA, INDONESIAEMSC

User reports for this quake

User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
There are no user reports for this quake yet. If you felt it be the first to report it!
Volcanoes & Earthquakes - new app for Android

Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900


Map of earlier quakes

Volcanoes & Earthquakes - new app for Android
Why is there advertising on this site?
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:
  • Weather reports
  • Tsunami alerts
  • Design upgrades
  • Faster responsiveness
Thanks to your past donations, these features have been added recently:
  • Earthquake archive from 1900 onwards
  • Additional seismic data sources
  • Improved content in English
Download and Upgrade the Volcanoes & Earthquakes app to get one of the fastest seismic and volcano alerts online:
Android | IOS
Thank you!
Copyrights: VolcanoDiscovery and other sources as noted.
Use of material: Most texts and images, in particular photographs, on this website are protected by copyright. Further reproduction and use of without authorization is usually not consented. If you are not sure or need licensing rights for photographs, for example for publications and commercial use, please contact us.