August 30, 1917 Earthquake: Banda Sea, Indonesia
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Banda Sea, Indonesia on August 30, 1917 at 04:07:15 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
- August 30, 1917
- Time
- 04:07:15 UTC
- Place
- Banda Sea, Indonesia
- Magnitude
- 7.8 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 100 km (62 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 7.500° S, 128.000° E
- Country
- Indonesia
- Region
- Central and South Pacific
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
The toll
The record gives no deaths, injuries or damage for this earthquake.
References for the magnitude and location
The USGS’s notes on how this earthquake’s official magnitude and location were set.
Official magnitude added to catalog 24-Jul-2026
Reference:
Abe, K. (1981),
Magnitudes of large shallow earthquakes from 1904 to 1980,
Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, v. 27, p. 72-92.
[also has a table of intermediate and deep earthquakes]
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
1917, August 30, 04:07:15 UTC, 7.5 S, 128 E, depth 100 km, magnitude 7.75 MS. (reference #88)
1917, August 30, 04:07:15 UTC, 7.5 S, 128 E, magnitude 7.75 MS. (reference #130)
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #130 Gutenberg, B. and C.F. Richter (1965). Seismicity of the earth and associated phenomena. Princeton University Press, 1954 (second edition); Hafner Publishing Company, New York and London (facsimile edition), 310 p.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
More
Significant earthquakes of 1917The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1917Recent 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 3094. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event iscgemsup913646, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.