There have been many tsunamis involving the territory that is now Indonesia.
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There have been many tsunamis involving the territory that is now Indonesia.
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| Event | Date | Location | Summary | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1797 Sumatra earthquake | 10 February 1797 | Padang | Tsunami localized to Padang, Sumatra, Indonesia | |
| 1833 Sumatra earthquake | 25 November 1833 | Sumatra | Tsunami along the southwest coast of Sumatra | |
| 1861 Sumatra earthquake | 16 February 1861 | Sumatra | Tsunami along the northwest coast of Sumatra | |
| 1883 eruption of Krakatoa | 26 August 1883 | Krakatoa | Collapse of Krakatoa caused tsunami sweeping over neighbouring islands and onto Sumatra and Java | |
| 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami | 26 December 2004 | Aceh | Large earthquake near Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia causing a transoceanic tsunami | One of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history, with a death toll of 227,898. |
| 2010 Mentawai earthquake and tsunami | 25 October 2010 | Mentawai Islands | Tsunami swept the coastal areas of the Mentawai Islands, off the west coast of Sumatra | |
| 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami | 28 September 2018 | Palu | Large earthquake near Donggala caused a tsunami that funneled into a bay rising high at Palu, Sulawesi, Indonesia | |
| 2018 Sunda Strait tsunami | 22 December 2018 | Banten - Lampung | Eruption of the Anak Krakatau volcano in the Sunda Strait caused a tsunami and landslide |
Aceh, officially the Province of Aceh, is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west, Strait of Malacca to the northeast, as well bordering the province of North Sumatra to the east, and shares maritime borders with Malaysia and Thailand to the east, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India to the north. Granted a special autonomous status, Aceh is a religiously conservative territory and the only Indonesian province practicing Sharia law officially. There are ten indigenous ethnic groups in this region, the largest being the Acehnese people, accounting for approximately 70% of the region's population of about 5.4 million people in mid 2022.
On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1–9.3 Mw struck with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate, and reached a Mercalli intensity up to IX in some areas.
The 2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake occurred on 28 March off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. At least 915 people were killed, mostly on the island of Nias. The event caused panic in the region, which had already been devastated by the massive tsunami triggered by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, but this earthquake generated a relatively small tsunami that caused limited damage. It was the third most powerful earthquake since 1965 in Indonesia.
An earthquake occurred on July 17, 2006 at 15:19:27 local time along a subduction zone off the coast of west and central Java, a large and densely populated island in the Indonesian archipelago. The shock had a moment magnitude of 7.7 and a maximum perceived intensity of IV (Light) in Jakarta, the capital and largest city of Indonesia. There were no direct effects of the earthquake's shaking due to its low intensity, and the large loss of life from the event was due to the resulting tsunami, which inundated a 300 km (190 mi) portion of the Java coast that had been unaffected by the earlier 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that was off the coast of Sumatra. The July 2006 earthquake was also centered in the Indian Ocean, 180 kilometers (110 mi) from the coast of Java, and had a duration of more than three minutes.
The September 2007 Sumatra earthquakes were a series of megathrust earthquakes that struck the Sunda Trench off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, with three of magnitude 7 or greater. A series of tsunami bulletins was issued for the area. The most powerful of the series had a magnitude of 8.5, which makes it in the top 20 of the largest earthquakes ever recorded on a seismograph.
This is a brief summary of the geology of Indonesia. Indonesia is located between two major tectonic plates, the Australian Plate and the newly-separated Sunda Plate.
The 1992 Flores earthquake and tsunami occurred on December 12 on the island of Flores in Indonesia. With a magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), it was the largest and also the deadliest earthquake in 1992 and in the Lesser Sunda Islands region. The earthquake was caused by slip on the Flores Thrust fault. This fault dips to the south underneath Flores Island. The epicenters of most earthquakes on the Flores Thrust are on Flores island.
The 1797 Sumatra earthquake occurred at 22:00 local time on February 10. It was the first in a series of great earthquakes that ruptured part of the Sumatran segment of the Sunda megathrust. It caused a damaging tsunami that was particularly severe near Padang, where a 150–200 ton English ship was driven 1 km inland up the Arau River.
The April 2010 Sumatra earthquake occurred on April 7 at 5:15 AM local time with a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of V (Moderate). The shock occurred near the Banyak Islands, off the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. A tsunami watch was issued according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu which was later canceled. A 40 cm surge was reported in the Banyak Islands an hour after the quake, along with 62 injuries. Power outages were reported throughout the province of North Sumatra as well as in Aceh. This quake is one in a sequence of large earthquakes along the Sunda megathrust in the 2000s.
The 1996 Biak earthquake, or the Irian Jaya earthquake, occurred on 17 February at 14:59:30 local time near Biak Island, Indonesia. The earthquake, which occurred on the New Guinea Trench, had a moment magnitude of 8.2 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). The run-up height of the generated tsunami reached 7.7 m (25 ft). The disaster left at least 108 people dead, 423 injured, and 58 missing. It damaged or destroyed 5,043 houses which subsequently made another 10,000 homeless. At Korim, 187 houses were destroyed. Various countries and organizations provided aid and relief in the aftermath of the earthquake.
The 2010 Mentawai earthquake occurred with a moment magnitude of 7.8 on 25 October off the western coast of Sumatra at 21:42 local time. The earthquake occurred on the same fault that produced the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. It was widely felt across the provinces of Bengkulu and West Sumatra and resulted in a substantial localized tsunami that struck the Mentawai Islands.
The 1965 Ceram Sea earthquake occurred on January 24 at 00:11 UTC with a moment magnitude of 8.2 and its epicenter was located just off the southwestern coast of Sanana Island in eastern Indonesia. The event occurred at a depth of 28 kilometers under the Ceram Sea, and a tsunami was generated which caused damage in Sanana, Buru, and Mangole. During the tsunami three consecutive run-ups were reported in Seram Island, and a four-meter run-up was reported at Buru Island.
The 2012 Indian Ocean earthquakes were magnitude 8.6 and 8.2 Mw undersea earthquakes that struck near the Indonesian province of Aceh on 11 April at 15:38 local time. Initially, authorities feared that the initial earthquake would cause a tsunami and warnings were issued across the Indian Ocean; however, these warnings were subsequently cancelled. These were unusually strong intraplate earthquakes and the largest strike-slip earthquake ever recorded.
The 1977 Sumba earthquake occurred approximately 290 kilometres (180 mi) south of Bima, Sumbawa, and beneath the Indian Ocean, at 14:08 local time on 19 August. With a moment magnitude of 8.3, the earthquake is notable for having an unusually great magnitude for a shock with a normal faulting focal mechanism. The shock occurred near the southern section of the Sunda Trench where several other tsunami-generating earthquakes have occurred. The earthquake was at the time the largest outer-rise earthquake ever recorded in Indonesia, and aftershocks along the trench extended about 130 kilometres (81 mi) eastward and 110 kilometres (68 mi) westward from the epicenter.
The 2016 Sumatra earthquake was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake which struck on 2 March 2016 in the Indian Ocean, approximately 800 kilometers southwest of Sumatra in Indonesia. Tsunami warnings were issued for Indonesia and Australia, but were withdrawn two hours later. There were no deaths directly related to the earthquake.
On 28 September 2018, a shallow, large earthquake struck in the neck of the Minahasa Peninsula, Indonesia, with its epicentre located in the mountainous Donggala Regency, Central Sulawesi. The magnitude 7.5 quake was located 70 km (43 mi) away from the provincial capital Palu and was felt as far away as Samarinda on East Kalimantan and also in Tawau, Malaysia. This event was preceded by a sequence of foreshocks, the largest of which was a magnitude 6.1 tremor that occurred earlier that day.
The 2018 Sunda strait tsunami occurred on 22 December 2018 at around 21:38 local time after large parts of the southwestern side of Anak Krakatoa collapsed onto its caldera. The landslide spawned a massive tsunami wave that struck multiple coastal regions in Banten and Lampung, including the popular tourist destination of Anyer.
On 29 November, at 14:10 UTC, a magnitude 7.7 Mw earthquake struck off the southern coast of Taliabu Island Regency in North Maluku, Indonesia. At least 41 people were killed on the nearby islands and a tsunami was triggered. Several hundred homes, buildings and offices were damaged or destroyed.
A moment magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck offshore near the Tanimbar Islands, Maluku, Indonesia, at a depth of 105.1 km, on 10 January 2023.