M6.3 earthquake hits north of Halmahera at intermediate depth, Indonesia
Image credit: TW/SAM, Google
A strong earthquake registered by the USGS as M6.3 hit Halmahera, Indonesia at 20:02 UTC on February 23, 2023. The agency is reporting a depth of 97.1 km (60 miles). EMSC is reporting the same magnitude and depth.
The epicenter was located 178.3 km (110.8 miles) N of Tobelo and 294.5 km (183 miles) NNE of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia.
2 000 people are estimated to have felt moderate shaking and 598 000 light.
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.
Estimated population exposure to earthquake shaking
Selected cities exposed
Regional seismicity
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.
Earlier reporting
Nothing on Watchers was published in the last 24 hours. These are older articles.
- In 2002 a magnitude 7.9 quake on the Denali Fault shoved the ground about 14 feet sideways under the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, but engineers had designed Teflon sliders for the pipe nearly 30 years earlier, and no oil spilled.
- In July 1958, an earthquake shook about 30 million cubic meters of rock into Alaska's Lituya Bay, and the splash stripped forest from a slope 1,720 feet high, taller than the Empire State Building; Howard Ulrich and his 7-year-old son rode the wave out in their fishing boat
- Deep M6.2 earthquake hits Vanuatu 43 km from Port-Olry at 143 km depth, no tsunami threat as USGS issues Green alert
- Mount Marapi eruption sends ash 1.6 km (1 mile) above summit in West Sumatra, Indonesia
