Earthquakes in Indonesia, 1927–2026
From 1927 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 1,321 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Indonesia. 153 of them reached magnitude 7 or more; the strongest was a magnitude 9.1 on December 26, 2004 (2004 Sumatra - Andaman Islands Earthquake).
The last 30 days · as of
USGS recorded 73 earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 4.5 on October 23 (207 km NE of Lospalos, Timor Leste). The strongest: magnitude 5.9 on October 3 (39 km WSW of Tambolaka, Indonesia).
What the record holds
It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 227,899 deaths for it. 277 earthquakes here in these years are on NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes. NOAA records deaths in 241 of the events here, 263,687 in all. The latest on NOAA’s list is a magnitude 7.8 on August 14, 2026 (66 km NNW of Ende, Indonesia). NOAA lists 88 tsunamis that began in or off Indonesia, and 2 from elsewhere that reached it with deaths or a metre of water or more. The highest water NOAA records here was 85.27 m, on December 22, 2018. The deadliest, on December 26, 2004, killed 167,540 people here by NOAA’s runup records. NOAA lists 123 significant eruptions of 32 volcanoes in or off Indonesia. The largest was Agung on March 18, 1963, at 5 on the volcanic explosivity index. The deadliest was Merapi on December 18, 1930, which killed 1,369 people by NOAA’s count.
The events
- August 14, 2026Earthquake · M 7.866 km NNW of Ende, Indonesia · 156 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 22, 2018Tsunami · 85.27 m hereKrakatau · 152 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- September 12, 2007Earthquake · M 8.4122 km SW of Bengkulu, Indonesia · 25 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 26, 2006Earthquake · M 6.310 km E of Pundong, Indonesia · 6,234 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 28, 2005Earthquake · M 8.678 km WSW of Singkil, Indonesia · 1,319 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 26, 2004Earthquake · M 9.12004 Sumatra - Andaman Islands Earthquake · 227,899 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 26, 2004Tsunami · 50.9 m hereOff W. Coast Of Sumatra · 167,540 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- August 19, 1977Earthquake · M 8.31977 Sumba, Indonesia Earthquake · 189 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- June 25, 1976Earthquake · M 7.1214 km NW of Kiunga, Papua New Guinea · 6,000 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 18, 1963Eruption · VEI 5Agung · 1,028 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- February 1, 1938Earthquake · M 8.51938 Banda Sea EarthquakeUSGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- December 18, 1930Eruption · VEI 3Merapi · 1,369 deaths (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
Good to know
- An event counts for Indonesia when it began inside its borders, or at sea within 100 km of its coast (so one can count for two neighbours), or further out, up to 300 km, where Indonesia is the nearest country.
- 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.
- The map frames the box around Indonesia, its neighbours’ quakes included, so its count runs higher than this page’s.
- 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