Banda Aceh

Earthquakes near Banda Aceh through history

From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 16 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Banda Aceh, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. The strongest on either list was a magnitude 7.3, 2 times, most recently on September 29, 1837 (Banda Atjeh).

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The last 30 days · as of

USGS recorded 2 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Banda Aceh in the last 30 days.

The latest: magnitude 4.5 on October 8 (70 km W of Banda Aceh, Indonesia). The strongest: magnitude 5.3 on October 3 (81 km SSW of Banda Aceh, Indonesia).

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What the record holds

The deadliest was not the strongest: a magnitude 6.5 on December 6, 2016 (14 km WNW of Reuleuet, Indonesia), for which NOAA records 104 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 16 here, back to 1837. NOAA records deaths in 4 of the events here, 115 in all. NOAA’s record here begins on September 29, 1837 with an earthquake (Banda Atjeh). 7 of the 16 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 5 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Banda Aceh, and 2 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 50.9 m, on December 26, 2004.

The events

  • December 6, 2016Earthquake · M 6.514 km WNW of Reuleuet, Indonesia · 104 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • December 26, 2004Tsunami · 50.9 m hereOff W. Coast Of SumatraNOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
  • May 17, 1955Earthquake · M 7.1190 km WNW of Sabang, IndonesiaUSGS · NOAA NCEI
  • September 29, 1837Earthquake · M 7.3 (est.)Banda AtjehNOAA NCEI

Good to know

  • An event counts for Banda Aceh when it began within 100 km of its centre, or 200 km for an earthquake of magnitude 7 or more. Damage can reach further.
  • USGS counts here start at magnitude 6: the catalogue’s smaller quakes thin out going back, where few instruments listened.
  • NOAA lists significant events only: earthquakes that killed, did about $1 million of damage, reached magnitude 7.5 or intensity X, or raised a tsunami, and eruptions and tsunamis by like measures. Magnitudes before 1900 are its estimates from written accounts.
  • Deaths are NOAA’s total for each event, wherever people died, its tsunami and fires included. A tsunami counts the dead its runup records give for this place: NOAA’s total for a tsunami includes its source quake’s.
  • A tsunami from elsewhere counts where one of its runups killed or rose a metre or more.
  • Counted to October 19, 2026, as is the map. The last 30 days ask USGS again.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Earthquakes, live, The world through history

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