Significant earthquakes of 1797

February 10, 1797 Earthquake: SW. Sumatra, Indonesia

February 10, 1797 · M8 · 300 deaths

A magnitude 8 earthquake struck SW. Sumatra, Indonesia on February 10, 1797. It killed 300 people, counting the tsunami it caused.

Map

Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.

The earthquake

Date
February 10, 1797
Place
SW. Sumatra, Indonesia
Magnitude
8 (Ms)
Intensity
9 on the Modified Mercalli scale
Epicenter
0.001° N, 99.000° E
Country
Indonesia

The toll

Deaths
300 with its tsunami and other effects
Damage
Limited (under about $1 million); Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with its tsunami and other effects
Houses destroyed
Many (101 to 1,000) with its tsunami and other effects

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

What the record says

NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.

Reference #414:

On February 10, 1797, at about 22:00 there was an earthquake on the west coast of Sumatra Island. It occurred at latitude 2 degrees north to 2 degrees south of the equator. It was apparently rather strong also on the east of Sumatra. The first tremor lasted about a minute. At Padang, cracks up to 10 cm wide appeared in the ground. These, however, closed up in the subsequent tremors. The walls cracked in most of the homes. The shocks occurred at 15-20 minute intervals. They were still being felt for a week, but the intervals gradually increased. A tidal wave followed the earthquake.

Reference #42:

1797, February 10. Sumatra.

Reference #11528:

In Padang proper fissures of 7-8 cm in breadth formed and closed again. Most buildings were damaged. During the entire night and the next day the ground was in movement. Every 15 -20 minutes a powerful vibration occurred, which persisted for a week, with the pauses between events gradually became longer.The earthquake spread over two degrees north and south of the equator. Moreover, the flood wave it produced had also struck the Batu Islands.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

More

Significant earthquakes of 1797The 1700sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

Sources

Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 5933.