Magnitude 4.5 earthquake strikes near Galela, North Halmahera Regency, North Maluku, Indonesia

A shallow magnitude 4.5 earthquake was reported in the morning near Galela, North Halmahera Regency, North Maluku, Indonesia.
According to Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency, the quake hit on Monday, October 20th, 2025, at 10:38 am local time at a shallow depth of 12. km. Shallow earthquakes are felt more strongly than deeper ones as they are closer to the surface. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
A second report was later issued by the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake, which listed it as a magnitude 4.5 earthquake as well.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Galela (pop. 8,800) located 83 km from the epicenter, and Tobelo (pop. 34,200) 109 km away.
VolcanoDiscovery will automatically update magnitude and depth if these change and follow up if other significant news about the quake become available. If you’re in the area, please send us your experience through our reporting mechanism, either online or via our mobile app. This will help us provide more first-hand updates to anyone around the globe who wants to know more about this quake.


Earthquake data:
Date & time: Oct 20, 2025 01:38 am (Universal Time) local time (20 Oct 2025 01:38 GMT)
Magnitude: 4.5
Depth: 44.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 1.86°N / 127.06°E (Indonesia)
Primary data source: BMKG
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