Fact Check: Gorontalo Meteor Not Linked to Jakarta Earthquake
The 5.9-magnitude earthquake in the Thousand Islands on September 12, 2026, was entirely unrelated to the meteor fall in Gorontalo hours earlier.
A video circulating on social media showing a bright flash of light over Gorontalo Province has been linked to a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in Jakarta. However, this claim is false. The meteor video was actually filmed in Berlin, Germany in 2024. The earthquake in Jakarta was caused by the edge of the Australian tectonic plate subducting under the South Java Sea, which is located thousands of kilometers away from Gorontalo.
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