On January 1, 1996, at 4:05 p.m. Central Indonesia Time, a powerful earthquake with an epicenter in the Makassar Strait struck north of Minahasa on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The earthquake registered a magnitude 7.9 on the moment magnitude scale and was centered off Tolitoli Regency in Central Sulawesi, or 25 km from the Tonggolobibi village. A tsunami of 2 to 4 meters was triggered by this earthquake as a result. This event was larger but far less deadly compared to the 7.5 Sulawesi earthquake in 2018 slightly south of where this earthquake occurred. At least 350 buildings were badly damaged, nine people were killed and 63 people injured.