Moderate magnitude 4.8 quake hits 20 km northeast of Labuha, Indonesia late at night

Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency reported a magnitude 4.8 quake in Indonesia near Labuha, South Halmahera Regency, North Maluku, only 15 minutes ago. The earthquake hit late at night on Thursday, January 8th, 2026, at 11:57 pm local time at a shallow depth of 10. km. 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.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) which listed the quake at magnitude 4.4. A third agency, the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake, reported the same quake at magnitude 4.8.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake was probably felt by many people in the area of the epicenter. It should not have caused significant damage, other than objects falling from shelves, broken windows, etc.
In Labuha (pop. 7,100) located 20 km from the epicenter, the quake should have been felt as light shaking.
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: Jan 8, 2026 11:57 pm (Jayapura time) local time (8 Jan 2026 14:57 GMT)
Magnitude: 4.8
Depth: 10.00 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 0.52°S / 127.62°E (Kabupaten Halmahera Selatan, North Maluku, Indonesia)
Primary data source: BMKG
https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquake/news/291420/Moderate-magnitude-48-quake-hits-20-km-northeast-of-Labuha-Indonesia-late-at-night-.html