M5.5 earthquake 177 km N of Tobelo, Indonesia
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 177 km N of Tobelo, Indonesia on Thu, Apr 13, 1978, 2:18 PM GMT+9 (05:18 UTC), 98 km (61 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M5.7 220 km NNW of Tobelo, Indonesia. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.5 (mb, body-wave), moderate
- Magnitude from
- USGS National Earthquake Information Center
- Local time
- UTC
- 1978-04-13 05:18:37 UTC
- Depth
- 98.0 km (60.9 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 3.311° N, 127.760° E
- Region
- Indonesia
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Magnitude estimates
Different scales measure different things and differ by a few tenths. The USGS marks one as preferred, and it is the one this page uses.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 | mb, body-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 5.42 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 5.4 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Depth from
- CONSTRAINED_BY_DEPTH_PHASES
- Stations used
- 95
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 2.5 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.9127 km NNE of Tobelo, Indonesia · 17700 days ago · 234 km deep · 98 km away
- 5.7220 km NNW of Tobelo, Indonesia · 17683 days ago · 43 km deep · 64 km away
- 5.3223 km NNW of Tobelo, Indonesia · 17667 days ago · 33 km deep · 61 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayIndonesia earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0000u2n (also filed as gcmtb041378a, gcmt19780413051837, iscgem683702). Read Thu, Oct 1, 2026, 8:14 AM UTC.