Strong M6.5 earthquake hits northern Molucca Sea, Indonesia
Image credit: TW/SAM, ESRI
A strong and shallow earthquake registered by the BMKG as M6.5 hit the northern Molucca Sea, Indonesia at 09:48 UTC on April 9, 2024. The agency is reporting a depth of 10 km (6.2 miles). USGS is reporting M6.6 at a depth of 33 km (20.5 miles); EMSC M6.6 at a depth of 35 km (21.7 miles).
This is the second M6+ earthquake to hit Indonesia today, following M6.1 at 00:02 UTC near the coast of Papua.
The epicenter was located 149.6 km (93 miles) NW of Tobelo and 216 km (134 miles) N of Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia.
1 040 000 people are estimated to have felt light shaking.
Based on all available data, there is no tsunami threat from this earthquake, NWS PTWC said.
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.
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
