Earthquakes in Timor-Leste through history
From 1900 to October 19, 2026, USGS recorded 33 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or more in or off Timor-Leste. 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 one earthquake of magnitude 4.5 or more in the area the map frames in the last 30 days.
The latest: magnitude 4.6 on October 17 (51 km N of Pante Makasar, Timor Leste).
What the record holds
It was also the deadliest: NOAA records 34 deaths for it. NOAA’s list of significant earthquakes has 5 here, back to 1857. NOAA records deaths in 3 of the events here, 73 in all. NOAA’s record here begins on October 5, 1891 with an earthquake. 1 of the 5 significant earthquakes NOAA lists here came before 1927. NOAA lists 3 tsunamis that began in or off Timor-Leste, 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
- December 29, 2021Earthquake · M 7.3125 km NNE of Lospalos, Timor LesteUSGS
- November 11, 2004Earthquake · M 7.563 km NW of Maubara, Timor Leste · 34 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 14, 1995Earthquake · M 6.927 km NNW of Maubara, Timor Leste · 11 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- May 14, 1995Tsunami · 4 m hereTimor Sea · 11 deaths here (NOAA)NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- July 4, 1991Earthquake · M 6.981 km NW of Maubara, Timor Leste · 28 deaths (NOAA)USGS · NOAA NCEI · Wikipedia
- March 26, 1930Earthquake · M 6.984 km N of Metinaro, Timor LesteUSGS
- September 29, 1905Earthquake · M 7.258 km ENE of Lospalos, Timor LesteUSGS
- October 5, 1891Earthquake · M 7.0 (est.)NOAA NCEI
Good to know
- An event counts for Timor-Leste 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 Timor-Leste 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 Timor-Leste, 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