September 11, 1916 Earthquake: Java, Indonesia

Name: September 11, 1916 Earthquake: Java, Indonesia
Start: 1916-09-11
Location: Java, Indonesia

September 11, 1916 · M7.3 · 340 houses destroyed

A magnitude 7.3 earthquake struck Java, Indonesia on September 11, 1916 at 06:36:30 UTC, 100 km below the surface.

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: September 11, 1916
Time: 06:36:30 UTC
Place: Java, Indonesia
Magnitude: 7.3 (Ms)
Focal depth: 100 km (62 mi)
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 9.000° S, 113.000° E
Country: Indonesia

The toll

Damage: Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
Houses destroyed: 340

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 #130 lists earthquake on Sept 11, 1916, 06:30.6 UTC, 9 S, 113 E, depth 100 km, magnitude 7.25.

Reference #88 lists earthquake on Sept 11, 1916, 06:30:36 UTC, 9 S, 113 E, depth 100 km, magnitude 7.25.

Reference #1188 lists earthquake on Sept 9, 1916, that caused the most destruction in Maos, Central Java [location 7.6 S, 109.1 E]. About 340 brick stone buildings collapsed completely and many others were damaged at Maos and Kasugian [7.6 S, 109.1 E]. Cracks developed in walls, ground-slumps were reported.

A few mud or sand craters were formed where jets of water spurted through holes or fissures, causing people to panic. Four hundred houses collapsed in the Selarang district [7.65 S, 109.1 E]. Damage to structures and cracks in the ground were also found in various places. School buildings were among those most generally and severely damaged, due to considerable part of unsuitable design for resistance to shaking. The major destruction, however, was in a more thickly settled district, where unfavorable geological conditions and poor structural work increased the damage.

(above from reference #1188 describing earthquake on Sept 9, 1916 which is probably actually an earthquake on Sept 11, 1906)

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1916 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1916 Recent earthquakes near here This 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 3064.