Earthquakes near Dili through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 15 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more within 100 km of Dili, or 200 km for magnitude 7 and above. 3 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 7.5 on November 11, 2004 (63 km NW of Maubara, Timor Leste).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded no earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more within 100 km of Dili in the last 30 days.
What the record holds
The deadliest was not the strongest: an earthquake on April 18, 1896 (Timor: Alor Island), for which NOAA records 250 deaths. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 6 here, back to 1857. NOAA records deaths in 3 of the events here, 295 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 6.5 on November 4, 2015 (47 km NW of Maubara, Timor Leste). NOAA’s record here begins on October 5, 1891 with an earthquake. 2 of the 6 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 3 tsunamis that began within 100 km of Dili, and one from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 4 m, on May 14, 1995. The deadliest, on May 14, 1995, killed 11 people here by NOAA’s runup records.
The events
- November 4, 2015Earthquake · M 6.547 km NW of Maubara, Timor LesteUSGS · NOAA NCEI
- November 11, 2004Earthquake · M 7.563 km NW of Maubara, Timor Leste · 34 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 14, 1995Tsunami · 4 m hereTimor Sea · 11 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 14, 1952Earthquake · M 7.077 km N of Baukau, Timor LesteUSGS
- April 18, 1896EarthquakeTimor: Alor Island · 250 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI
- October 5, 1891Earthquake · M 7.0 (est.)NOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Dili 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