Significant earthquakes of 1876

May 28, 1876 Earthquake: Buru Island, Ceram Sea, Indonesia

May 28, 1876 · M6.8

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Buru Island, Ceram Sea, Indonesia on May 28, 1876, 50 km below the surface. 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
May 28, 1876
Place
Buru Island, Ceram Sea, Indonesia
Magnitude
6.8 (Ms)
Focal depth
50 km (31 mi)
Intensity
VII, very strong shaking, on the Modified Mercalli scale
Epicenter
3.000° S, 127.250° E
Country
Indonesia
Region
Central and South Pacific

The toll

Damage
Limited (under about $1 million)
Houses damaged
Many (101 to 1,000)

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.

1876, May 28, 12:30 [local time]. On Buru Island, there was an earthquake accompanied by a tsunami. After eight strong shocks, which lasted, together with a number of weak ones, 3 minutes, recurrent tremors were registered from time to time, which became very perceptible and frequent by 18:00. A seaquake was felt on proas at open sea. At Kajeli, several homes were damaged, and a minaret collapsed at Masarete. The tsunami entered Kajeli Bay seven times. A rather strong shock, lasting 50 seconds, was felt at Ambon and Hila and on the northern coast of Ambon Island. The tsunami entered Kajeli Bay seven times, reaching, however, a height of only 0.3 m (1 foot) above the usual water level. (reference #414)

1876, May 28. Intensity VII. Kajeli: Ceram - a few houses suffered damage and a mosque tumbled down at Kajeli-Ceram Island - Maluku. (reference #1188)

1876, May 28, 3:57 a.m. Moluccas, Amboina. Intensity I which corresponds to an earthquake of intensity sufficient to crack walls, break chimneys, to shatter old buildings or to produce cracks in the ground. (reference #1055)

Sources NCEI cites

The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.

  1. #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.]
  2. #1188 Soetardjo, M. Untung, and E.P. Arnold (1985). Southeast Asia Association of Seismology, Series on Seismology, vol. V - Indonesia, U.S. Geological Survey.
  3. #1055 Milne, John (1911). Catalogue of Destructive Earthquakes [7 to 1899 A.D.], Report of the 81st Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Portsmouth, London, United Kingdom, p. 649-740.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

More

Significant earthquakes of 1876The 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 6184.