M6.1 earthquake hits Sulawesi, Indonesia at intermediate depth
Image credit: TW
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.1 hit North Sulawesi, Indonesia at 20:59 UTC on January 6, 2021. The agency is reporting a depth of 157 km (97 miles). EMSC is reporting M6.1 at a depth of 161 km (100 miles).
The epicenter was located 60 km (37 miles) SSW of Gorontalo (population 144 195), and 108 km (67 miles) N of Luwuk (population 47 778), Indonesia.
There are 1 130 000 people living within 100 km (62 miles).
2 287 000 people are estimated to have felt light shaking and 2 576 000 weak.
Image credit: TW/SAM, Google
The USGS issued a green alert for shaking-related fatalities and economic losses. There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage.
Overall, the population in this region resides in structures that are vulnerable to earthquake shaking, though resistant structures exist. The predominant vulnerable building types are unreinforced brick with concrete floor and precast concrete frame with wall construction.
Regional seismicity
Featured image credit: TW/SAM, Google
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
Published in the last 24 hours
- Strong and shallow M6.4 earthquake hits Santa Cruz Islands, Solomon Islands
- A meteorite blew a crater beside a village near Lake Titicaca in 2007, and dozens of villagers who went to see it got headaches and nausea, though tests found nothing the rock had added to the water Epicenter
- The people who pay closest attention to the weather are the ones storms have already cost the most, a study of 946 students found, with one damaging storm making little difference to how much attention a student paid, but two or more making a clear one Epicenter
- The sea is falling in Juneau, Alaska, because land freed from melted glaciers is rising about 0.6 inches a year Epicenter
