Moderate mag. 4.4 earthquake - 79 km northeast of Sofifi, Kota Tidore Kepulauan, North Maluku, Indonesia, on Tuesday, Oct 19, 2021 at 1:29 am (GMT +9) -
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Moderate magnitude 4.4 earthquake at 10 km depth
18 Oct 16:35 UTC: First to report: BMKG after 6 minutes.
Update Mon, 18 Oct 2021, 16:39
Moderate magnitude 4.4 quake hits 79 km northeast of Sofifi, Indonesia early morning 4.4 quake 19 Oct 1:29 am (GMT +9)
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake near Sofifi, Kota Tidore Kepulauan, North Maluku, Indonesia, was reported only 10 minutes ago by Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency, considered the main national agency that monitors seismic activity in Indonesia. The earthquake occurred at a shallow depth of 10 km beneath the epicenter early morning on Tuesday, October 19th, 2021, at 1:29 am local time. 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.
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 67 km from the epicenter, Sofifi (pop. 36,200) 79 km away, and Ternate (pop. 101,700) 93 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.
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 67 km from the epicenter, Sofifi (pop. 36,200) 79 km away, and Ternate (pop. 101,700) 93 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.
Earthquake data
Local time at epicenter: Tuesday, Oct 19, 2021 at 1:29 am (GMT +9)
Magnitude: 4.4
Depth: 10.0 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 1.14°N / 128.14°E

Antipode: 1.14°S / 51.86°W
Nearest volcano: Ibu (67 km / 42 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
67 km (42 mi) SSE of Tobelo (Kabupaten Halmahera Utara) (pop: 10,000) --> See nearby quakes!
79 km (49 mi) NE of Sofifi (Kota Tidore Kepulauan) (pop: 36,200) --> See nearby quakes!
93 km (58 mi) ENE of Ternate (pop: 101,700) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Scattered Clouds
25.3°C (78 F), humidity: 88%, wind: 0 m/s (1 kts) from ESE
Primary data source: BMKG (Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency of Indonesia)
Scattered Clouds

Estimated released energy: 2.5 x 1011 joules (69.8 megawatt hours, equivalent to 60 tons of TNT) | 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 |
4.4 | 10 km | Halmahera, Indonesia | BMKG |
4.4 | 10 km | HALMAHERA, INDONESIA | EMSC |
4.5 | 10 km | 71 Km S of Tobelo, Indonesia | USGS |
User reports for this quake
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
Earlier earthquakes in the same area
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