The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported a magnitude 5.0 quake in Indonesia near Bitung, Sulawesi Utara, only 7 minutes ago. The earthquake hit around noon on Sunday, January 18th, 2026, at 12:16 pm local time at an intermediate depth of 85.30 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.A second report was later issued by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ), which listed it as a magnitude 5.0 earthquake as well.Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter. Weak shaking might have been felt in Bitung (pop. 137,400) located 84 km from the epicenter, Bitung (pop. 225,100) 85 km away, and Tondano (pop. 33,300) 85 km away.Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Tomohon (pop. 27,600) located 95 km from the epicenter, Laikit, Laikit II (Dimembe) (pop. 8,000) 98 km away, and Manado (pop. 451,900) 105 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: Jan 18, 2026 04:16 am (Universal Time) local time (18 Jan 2026 04:16 GMT)Magnitude: 5.0Depth: 70.00 kmEpicenter latitude / longitude: 0.68°N / 125.42°E (Sulawesi Utara, Indonesia)Primary data source: EMSC