Moderate mag. 4.9 earthquake - South Pacific Ocean, 42 km northeast of Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia, on Friday, 12 Feb 2021 9:49 pm (GMT +9) -
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Moderate magnitude 4.9 earthquake at 10 km depth
12 Feb 12:55 UTC: First to report: BMKG after 6 minutes.
12 Feb 13:00: Epicenter location corrected by 3.3 km (2.1 mi) towards N.
12 Feb 19:45: Epicenter location corrected by 2.5 km (1.5 mi) towards WSW.
12 Feb 13:00: Epicenter location corrected by 3.3 km (2.1 mi) towards N.
12 Feb 19:45: Epicenter location corrected by 2.5 km (1.5 mi) towards WSW.
Update Fri, 12 Feb 2021, 13:00
Moderate magnitude 4.9 earthquake 42 km northeast of Sorong, Indonesia4.9 quake 12 Feb 9:49 pm (GMT +9)
Just 10 minutes ago, a 4.9-magnitude earthquake struck near Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia. The tremor was recorded in the evening on Friday 12 February 2021 at 9:49 pm local time, at a shallow depth of 10 km below the surface.
The event was filed by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency, the first seismological agency to report it.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Sorong (pop. 125,500) located 42 km from the epicenter.
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.
The event was filed by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency, the first seismological agency to report it.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Sorong (pop. 125,500) located 42 km from the epicenter.
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.
Earthquake data:
Date & time: 12 Feb 2021 12:49:36 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Friday, 12 Feb 2021 9:49 pm (GMT +9)
Magnitude: 4.9
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 0.65°S / 131.56°E

Nearby towns and cities:
42 km (26 mi) NE of Sorong (pop: 125,500) --> See nearby quakes!
279 km (174 mi) W of Manokwari (pop: 53,200) --> See nearby quakes!
340 km (211 mi) NNW of Mas (pop: 320) --> See nearby quakes!
419 km (260 mi) NE of Amahai (pop: 47,700) --> See nearby quakes!
475 km (295 mi) ESE of Tobelo (Kabupaten Halmahera Utara) (pop: 10,000) --> See nearby quakes!
506 km (314 mi) NE of Ambon City (pop: 355,600) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Overcast Clouds
27.4°C (81 F), humidity: 80%, wind: 1 m/s (1 kts) from W
Primary data source: BMKG (Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia)Overcast Clouds

Estimated released energy: 1.4 x 1012 joules (392 megawatt hours, equivalent to 338 tons of TNT) More info
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.
Magnitude | Depth | Location | Source |
4.9 | 10 km | Irian Jaya Region, Indonesia | BMKG |
4.7 | 18 km | Irian Jaya Region, Indonesia | GFZ |
4.7 | 20 km | NEAR N COAST OF PAPUA, INDONESIA | EMSC |
4.6 | 10.4 km | 28 Km SW of Sorong, Indonesia | USGS |
User reports for this quake (1)
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Bagh Azad Kashmir / Strong shaking (MMI VI) / 20-30 s
Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900
- Date / time UTC| Mag |Depth|Age|Distance| Details
- 03 Jan 2009 19:43| 7.7 |17km / 10.6mi|12 years ago|150km / 93mi| South Pacific Ocean, 140 km W of Manokwari, West Papua, Indonesia
- 03 Jan 2009 22:33| 7.4 |23km / 14mi|12 years ago|194km / 121mi| 87 km W of Manokwari, West Papua, Indonesia
- 07 Oct 1923 03:29| 7.4 |15km / 9.3mi|98 years ago|233km / 145mi| Halmahera Sea, 13 km W of Pulau Walo Island, West Papua, Indonesia
- 10 Nov 1925 13:50| 7.3 |15km / 9.3mi|96 years ago|105km / 65mi| Halmahera Sea, 20 km NW of Pulau Barie Island, West Papua, Indonesia
- 10 Aug 1927 11:36| 7.1 |15km / 9.3mi|94 years ago|25km / 15mi| South Pacific Ocean, 66 km NE of Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia
- 09 Nov 1930 19:08| 7.0 |25km / 16mi|91 years ago|103km / 64mi| 143 km E of Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia
- 19 Jul 1934 01:27| 6.9 |15km / 9.3mi|87 years ago|205km / 127mi| 75 km W of Manokwari, West Papua, Indonesia
- 26 Apr 1944 01:54| 6.8 |15km / 9.3mi|77 years ago|232km / 144mi| South Pacific Ocean, 53 km NW of Manokwari, West Papua, Indonesia
- 05 Apr 1937 06:56| 6.8 |15km / 9.3mi|84 years ago|221km / 138mi| South Pacific Ocean, 61 km W of Manokwari, West Papua, Indonesia
- 24 Sep 2015 15:53| 6.6 |19km / 11.8mi|6 years ago|33km / 20mi| South Pacific Ocean, 31 km N of Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia
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