The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 6.2 Earthquake at a depth of 18.4 km, approximately 36 km to the south of the city of Mamuju in West Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, slightly before 2.30 am local time on Friday 15 January 2021 (slightly before 6.30 pm on Thursday 14 January, GMT). There are no reports of any damage or injuries relating to this event at this time, but people have reported feeling it locally.
The tectonic situation beneath Sulawesi is complex, as it is caught in the collisional zone between the Eurasian, Pacific and Australian Plates. The north of the island is located on a breakaway section of the Eurasian Plate, called the Sangihe Plate. To the east lies the remnant Molucca Sea Plate, which is being subducted beneath both the Sangihe Plate and the more easterly Halmahera Plate, leading to Earthquakes and volcanism on Sulawesi and the islands of the Sangihe Arc in the west and the islands of the Halmahera Arc in the east.
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