November 28, 1836 Earthquake: Flores Sea, Indonesia
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Flores Sea, Indonesia on November 28, 1836. It caused a tsunami.
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
- November 28, 1836
- Place
- Flores Sea, Indonesia
- Magnitude
- 7.5 (Ms)
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 8.300° S, 118.700° E
- Country
- Indonesia
- Region
- South and Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Some (about 51 to 100)
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.
1836, November 28, 10:30 (local time), magnitude 7.5. There was a strong earthquake at Bima. It lasted several minutes and did heavy damage to structures. Rock masses collapsed into the valley from the mountain spurs south of Soromandi Mountain. The tremors, which continued with lesser force until 18:00, then again intensified and were accompanied by a tidal wave. (reference #414)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #414 Soloviev, S.L., and Ch.N. Go (1974). A catalogue of tsunamis on the western shore of the Pacific Ocean [dates include 173-1968. Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Nauka Publishing House, Moscow, 439 p. [Canadian Translation of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences no. 5077, 1984, translation available from Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, National Research Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OS2, 447 p.]
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- December 29, 1820, Makasar, Sulawesi, Indonesia
- November 25, 2007, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia
- November 8, 2009, Bima, Sumabawa, Indonesia
- December 1, 2006, Bima, Sumabawa, Indonesia
- March 5, 1836, Flores Sea, Indonesia
- November 28, 1837, Bima, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia
- November 2, 1954, Bima,raba, Sumabawa, Indonesia
- January 23, 2003, Dompu, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia
- July 31, 2016, West Nusa Tenggara, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia
- March 11, 1982, Sumbawa Island Region, Indonesia
- December 29, 1828, Sulawesi, Indonesia
More
Significant earthquakes of 1836The 1800sRecent 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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 6048.