M6.5 earthquake 12 km SSW of Kawalu, Indonesia
A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck 12 km SSW of Kawalu, Indonesia on Fri, Dec 15, 2017, 11:47 PM GMT+7 (16:47 UTC), 90 km (56 mi) below the surface.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.5 (mww), strong
- Local time
- UTC
- 2017-12-15 16:47:58 UTC
- Depth
- 90.0 km (55.9 mi), intermediate-depth
- Epicenter
- 7.492° S, 108.174° E
- Region
- Indonesia
- Felt reports
- 459
- Strongest shaking
- VII, very strong shaking
- PAGER alert
- Green
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Deaths and damage
From NOAA NCEI’s Significant Earthquake Database (record 10287), matched to this event by time and place.
- Deaths
- 4
- Injuries
- 36
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses damaged
- 4,825
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.
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
- 12.5% of gravity
- Peak ground velocity
- 2.3 cm/s
- Map
- Automatic
Did you feel it?
459 people reported to the USGS what they felt; the strongest reported shaking was VIII, severe shaking.
Estimated impact
The USGS PAGER system estimates deaths and economic losses from the shaking and the population and buildings exposed to it.
- Alert level
- Green: little or no damage or loss of life expected
| Range | Chance |
|---|---|
| Under 1 | 65% |
| 1 to 10 | 30% |
| 10 to 100 | 4% |
| 100 to 1,000 | Under 1% |
| 1,000 to 10,000 | Under 1% |
| 10,000 to 100,000 | Under 1% |
| 100,000 to 10,000,000 | Under 1% |
| Range, million USD | Chance |
|---|---|
| Under 1 | 93% |
| 1 to 10 | 7% |
| 10 to 100 | Under 1% |
| 100 to 1,000 | Under 1% |
| 1,000 to 10,000 | Under 1% |
| 10,000 to 100,000 | Under 1% |
| 100,000 to 10,000,000 | Under 1% |
Fault motion and ground failure
How the rock slipped, from the moment tensor, and the USGS estimate of landslides and liquefaction.
- Faulting
- Strike-slip
- Moment magnitude
- 6.5 Mww
- Nodal plane 1
- Strike 52°, dip 60°, rake 162°
- Nodal plane 2
- Strike 151°, dip 75°, rake 31°
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 8.0 km horizontally, 1.8 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.06
- Depth from
- From modeling of broad-band P waveforms
- Station coverage gap
- 28°
- Stations used
- 190
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 3.5 and up: 1 in the 60 days after this one and 1 in the 30 days before it.
After
Before
Earthquakes todayIndonesia earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event us2000c4v8 (also filed as iscgem611604311). Read Wed, Sep 30, 2026, 4:53 PM UTC.