Magnitude 6.5 Earthquake Strikes Waters off Sulawesi Island, Indonesia

An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 struck the waters near Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. The tremor was strong enough to be felt even in Manado, a famous nearby tourist destination.

According to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) and other sources on January 11 (local time), the magnitude 6.5 earthquake occurred at around 9:58 p.m. the previous day in the waters off the Talaud Islands, north of Sulawesi Island. The epicenter was located 245 kilometers northwest of Tobelo in North Maluku Province, Maluku Islands. The coordinates of the epicenter were 3.69 degrees north latitude and 127 degrees east longitude, with a depth of 54 kilometers.

However, the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics (BMKG) reported the earthquake as having a magnitude of 7.1 and a depth of 17 kilometers.

Although strong tremors were felt in Manado, a popular tourist destination in northern Sulawesi, there were no casualties. BMKG stated that several aftershocks occurred, but there was no possibility of a tsunami.

Indonesia is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an area known for frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. While earthquakes of magnitude 5 or higher occur about once every four years in South Korea, such earthquakes are observed about every two days in Indonesia.

Location of the magnitude 6.5 earthquake in Sulawesi Island, Indonesia