A Short Report of 2026 North Maluku Earthquake

Iswandi Imran

National Center for Earthquake Studies of Indonesia (PUSGEN)

An MW 7.6 earthquake struck North Maluku and North Sulawesi, Eastern Indonesia on the 1st of April 2026, at 22:48:13 UTC. The epicentre was located in the northern Molucca Sea, at coordinate of 1.117°N 126.297°E, 126 km WNW from Ternate at a shallow depth of roughly 33 km, producing strong tremors and numerous aftershocks. Faulting mechanism solutions for the event indicate that it activated a reverse faulting (thrusting) structure, with a moderate dip towards either the northwest or the southeast, in line with the general trend of earthquakes in the region.