M4.4 earthquake 19 km S of Tarutung, North Sumatra, Indonesia
A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck 19 km S of Tarutung, North Sumatra, Indonesia at 15:55 local time (08:55 UTC) on 23 Sept 2026, at a depth of 124 km, according to GFZ. The solution is preliminary and may be revised.
Data: GFZ · updated 2026-09-23 08:55 UTC · automatic solution
- Magnitude
- 4.4light
body-wave magnitude (mb) - Depth
- 123.5 km
- Status
- Automatic
- Origin time
- 2026-09-23 08:55:41 UTC
- Local: 23 Sept 2026, 15:55:41 (Asia/Jakarta)
- Epicentre
- 1.842° N, 98.957° E
Circles show this event and others within 30 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Est. shaking |
|---|---|---|
| TarutungNorth Sumatra, Indonesia · pop. 39,500 | 19 km | IIWeak |
| SibolgaNorth Sumatra, Indonesia · pop. 92,244 | 23 km | IIWeak |
| PadangsidempuanNorth Sumatra, Indonesia · pop. 243,843 | 62 km | IIWeak |
| PangururanNorth Sumatra, Indonesia · pop. 34,209 | 90 km | INot felt |
| PematangsiantarNorth Sumatra, Indonesia · pop. 279,198 | 125 km | INot felt |
| MedanNorth Sumatra, Indonesia · pop. 2,486,283 | 196 km | INot felt |
| PercutNorth Sumatra, Indonesia · pop. 311,063 | 199 km | INot felt |
| BinjaiNorth Sumatra, Indonesia · pop. 279,302 | 202 km | INot felt |
Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more.
Every agency's solution
Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses GFZ.
| Agency | Magnitude | Depth | Epicentre | Time offset | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GFZheadlineGFZ via GEOFON, GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences | 4.4 mb | 123.5 km | 1.84° N, 98.96° E | – | Automatic |
How big was it?
Widely felt near the epicentre: rattling windows and objects. Significant damage is unlikely.
It released roughly the energy of 67 t of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 124 km this was a intermediate-depth earthquake, which spreads shaking over a wider area but less intensely.
M4.4 releases about 35× the energy of M3.4, and its waves are about 11× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 67 t of TNT vs 1.9 t of TNT.
Each square is the energy of one M3.4. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.
Aftershocks and nearby activity
No later earthquakes have been recorded within 30 km so far. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.
Did you feel it?
Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.
Reports on SeismoAtlas
No reports yet.
Event id gfz2026sqvz. First recorded here 28 Sept 2026, 17:32:06 UTC. Solutions: GFZ (geofon:gfz2026sqvz). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M4.4 earthquake 19 km S of Tarutung, North Sumatra, Indonesia”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/gfz2026sqvz-m4-4-earthquake-19-km-s-of-tarutung-north-sumatra-indonesia, data from GFZ.
JSON: /api/v1/events/gfz2026sqvz. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.