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M5.5 earthquake 36 km NNE of Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck 36 km NNE of Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia at 09:41 local time (01:41 UTC) on 21 Sept 2026, at a depth of 10 km, according to USGS.

Data: USGS · updated 2026-09-22 01:50 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude
5.5moderate
body-wave magnitude (mb)
Depth
10 km
Status
Reviewed
Origin time
2026-09-21 01:41:36 UTC
Local: 21 Sept 2026, 09:41:36 (Asia/Makassar)
Epicentre
8.307° S, 120.579° E

Circles show this event and others within 71 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map

Nearby places

Distance and estimated shaking at nearby places
PlaceDistanceEst. shaking
RutengEast Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia · pop. 41,53336 kmVModerate
Labuan BajoEast Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia · pop. 188,72479 kmIVLight
EndeEast Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia · pop. 87,269133 kmIIIWeak
MakassarSouth Sulawesi, Indonesia · pop. 1,474,393373 kmIIWeak
KupangEast Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia · pop. 474,801392 kmIIWeak

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. Likely felt out to about 219 km.

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 USGS, which has been reviewed by an analyst.

AgencyMagnitudeDepthEpicentreTime offsetStatus
USGSheadlineUSGS NEIC via U.S. Geological Survey5.5 mb10 km8.31° S, 120.58° E–Reviewed

How big was it?

Felt by most people over a wide area. Can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre.

It released roughly the energy of 2.7 kt 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 10 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.

M5.5 releases about 32× the energy of M4.5, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 2.7 kt of TNT vs 85 t of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M4.5. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

3 later earthquakes within 71 km; the largest was M5.0 2 days ago. 3 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M5.5

3 later earthquakes nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)MagnitudeDepth (km)
48.354.510
113.964.814
137.925.010
  1. 5.052 km NNW of Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia09-26 19:37
  2. 4.843 km N of Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia09-25 19:39
  3. 4.564 km NE of Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia09-23 02:02

Did you feel it?

Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.

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Reports on SeismoAtlas

No reports yet.

Event id us7000tiur. First recorded here 28 Sept 2026, 17:32:10 UTC. Solutions: USGS (usgs:us7000tiur). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M5.5 earthquake 36 km NNE of Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/us7000tiur-m5-5-earthquake-36-km-nne-of-ruteng-east-nusa-tenggara-indonesia, data from USGS.

JSON: /api/v1/events/us7000tiur. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.