A moderately shallow magnitude 5.1 earthquake was reported early evening near Ternate, Kota Ternate, North Maluku, Indonesia.According to the United States Geological Survey, the quake hit on Monday, July 20th, 2026, at 6:40 pm local time at a moderately shallow depth of 69.97 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 European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which listed it as a magnitude 5.1 earthquake as well. Other agencies reporting the same quake include the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) at magnitude 5.1, the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) at magnitude 5.3, and the citizen-seismograph network of RaspberryShake at magnitude 5.2.Generally quakes of this magnitude are recorded by more than one agency and the results can vary, with subsequent reports that come in after the first one often showing more accuracy.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 Galela (pop. 8,800) located 63 km from the epicenter, Tobelo (pop. 34,200) 84 km away, Ternate (pop. 204,900) 91 km away, Sofifi (pop. 36,200) 102 km away, and Sofifi (pop. 36,200) 102 km away.Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Daruba (pop. 23,600) located 125 km from the epicenter.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: Jul 20, 2026 06:40 pm (GMT +9) local time (20 Jul 2026 09:40 GMT)Magnitude: 5.1Depth: 69.97 kmEpicenter latitude / longitude: 1.6°N / 127.27°E (West Halmahera Regency, North Maluku, Indonesia)Primary data source: USGS