M4.6 earthquake Molucca Sea
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck in the Molucca Sea on Mon, Dec 28, 1981, 5:56 AM GMT+9 (20:56 UTC), 49 km (30 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M4.8 86 km NNW of Ternate, Indonesia. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 4.6 (mb), light
- Local time
- UTC
- 1981-12-27 20:56:16 UTC
- Depth
- 48.6 km (30.2 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 1.080° N, 126.415° E
- Region
- Indonesia
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
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
- FROM_LOCATION
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.6 and up: 5 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 4.886 km NNW of Ternate, Indonesia · 16330 days ago · 33 km deep · 91 km away
- 5.1124 km WNW of Ternate, Indonesia · 16323 days ago · 77 km deep · 17 km away
- 4.9129 km WNW of Ternate, Indonesia · 16306 days ago · 58 km deep · 25 km away
- 4.5103 km WSW of Ternate, Indonesia · 16302 days ago · 33 km deep · 80 km away
- 4.8139 km WSW of Ternate, Indonesia · 16292 days ago · 52 km deep · 67 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayIndonesia earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event usp0001hq3. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 11:44 AM UTC.