Magnitude 5.7 Earthquake Strikes Southwest Maluku

A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck the waters off Southwest Maluku Regency, Maluku province.

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) reported that the offshore earthquake occurred on Wednesday (18 February) at approximately 09:15 Western Indonesian Time (WIB).

BMKG stated that updated parameters placed the earthquake’s magnitude at M5.5. The epicentre was located at coordinates 6.02° South, 131.37° East, precisely at sea some 156 km southwest of Southeast Maluku, Maluku province, at a depth of 104 km.

Acting Director of Earthquakes and Tsunamis at BMKG, Rahmat Triyono, said the earthquake was classified as an intermediate-depth event caused by rock deformation activity within the Banda Sea plate. Source mechanism analysis indicated that the earthquake involved oblique normal faulting.

The earthquake produced tremors in the Southwest Maluku region with a Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale of III–IV, meaning it would be felt by many people indoors during daytime.

As of the time of reporting, there had been no reports of damage caused by the earthquake.

“The earthquake did not generate a tsunami,” Triyono said in a written statement on Wednesday (18 February).

As of 09:40 WIB, BMKG monitoring had detected no aftershock activity.