November 4, 1963 Earthquake: Banda Sea, Indonesia

Name: November 4, 1963 Earthquake: Banda Sea, Indonesia
Start: 1963-11-04
Location: Banda Sea, Indonesia

November 4, 1963 · M8.3

A magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck Banda Sea, Indonesia on November 4, 1963 at 01:17:11 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: November 4, 1963
Time: 01:17:11 UTC
Place: Banda Sea, Indonesia
Magnitude: 8.3 (Ms)
Focal depth: 100 km (62 mi)
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 6.860° S, 129.580° E
Country: Indonesia

The toll

Damage: Limited (under about $1 million)

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.

1963, November 4, 01:17:08.9 UTC, 6.8 S, 129.6 E, Banda Sea. Slight damage at Darwin. Felt in western and northern Australia and Papua. Depth about 80 km. (reference #45)

November 4, 1963, 01:17:08.9 UTC, 6.8 S, 129.6 E, depth 80 km, magnitude 6.5 MS. Focus under the Banda Sea; felt at Darwin (Australia); the electricity supply and telephone

services were cut at Darwin; the shock was felt in

Australia at Perth and Adelaide, and in New Guinea

as far as Papua. (reference #1040)

The Banda Sea earthquake of November 4, 1963 is one of the largest (Mw = 8.3) intraplate events. It involved

oblique thrusting at an intermediate depth within the subducted lithosphere near the abrupt bend in the southeastern Banda arc (6.86 deg S, 129.58 deg E). (reference #9364)

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1963 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1963 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 4306.