M7.1 earthquake 41 km NNW of Majene, Indonesia
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck 41 km NNW of Majene, Indonesia on Sun, Feb 23, 1969, 8:36 AM GMT+8 (00:36 UTC), 10 km (6 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 7.1 (Mw, moment), major
- Magnitude from
- ISC-GEM global catalog
- Local time
- UTC
- 1969-02-23 00:36:57 UTC
- Depth
- 10.0 km (6.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 3.189° S, 118.829° E
- Region
- Indonesia
- Strongest shaking
- VII, very strong shaking
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 4476), matched to this event by time and place.
- Deaths
- 64; 664 with its tsunami and other effects
- Injuries
- 97
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 1,287
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
From Wikipedia
The western coast of West Sulawesi was struck by a major earthquake on 23 February 1969 at 00:36 UTC. It had a magnitude of 7.1 Mw and a maximum felt intensity of VIII on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale. It triggered a major tsunami that caused significant damage along the coast of the Makassar Strait. At least 64 people were killed, with possibly a further 600 deaths caused by the tsunami.
Text from Wikipedia, “1969 Sulawesi earthquake”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted as written; the full article has the rest.
The article is about the earthquake NOAA’s record describes, matched to this one by date, place and magnitude.
Shaking
The USGS ShakeMap: shaking estimated from seismic stations and the quake’s size, on the Modified Mercalli intensity scale.
- Strongest estimated
- VII, very strong shaking
- Peak ground acceleration
- 30.5% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 3.6 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.32
- Depth from
- From location
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 4.1 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 0 in the 30 days before it.
After
Earthquakes todayIndonesia earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event iscgem812497 (also filed as atlas19690223003704). Read Sat, Oct 3, 2026, 4:44 AM UTC.