August 19, 1977 Earthquake: Sunda Islands, Indonesia

Name: August 19, 1977 Earthquake: Sunda Islands, Indonesia
Start: 1977-08-19
Location: Sunda Islands, Indonesia

August 19, 1977 · M8.3 · 189 deaths · $1.2 million

A magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck Sunda Islands, Indonesia on August 19, 1977 at 06:08:55 UTC, 25 km below the surface. It killed 189 people, counting the tsunami it caused.

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 19, 1977
Time: 06:08:55 UTC
Place: Sunda Islands, Indonesia
Magnitude: 8.3 (Mw)
Focal depth: 25 km (16 mi)
Tsunami: Yes: the tsunami it caused
Epicenter: 11.164° S, 118.378° E
Country: Indonesia

The toll

Deaths: 189 with its tsunami and other effects
Injuries: 75 with its tsunami and other effects
Damage: Limited (under about $1 million); $1.2 million with its tsunami and other effects

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.

August 19. 1977. A catastrophic earthquake shook Sumbawa Island. It covered an extensive area from the southern coast of Indonesia to the northwestern coast of Australia. Shocks were felt over a vast territory. In Perth, over 2000 km south of Sumbawa, the shocks caused people to flee from buildings. A large tsunami was produced. (reference #417)

An magnitude 8.0 Ms (Pasadena) earthquake south of Sumbawa Island generated a tsunami that completely destroyed several villages. At least 100 people were killed, 89 reported missing and 75 injured. most of the casualties and damage were caused by the tsunami. (reference #1053)

Reference #1250 lists $1.2 million damage, 185 killed, 3900 homeless.

The great 1977 Sumba earthquake is the biggest outer-rise earthquake in Indonesia ever recorded.The mechanism of outer-rise events is generally a normal fault type with the tension axis perpendicular to the trench, and the focal depths are quite shallow [...] The island most damaged by the tsunami waves was Sumbawa Island, where 68 people were killed and 54 people were missing. The combined number of victims from both the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia was 107 people (reference #12806)

1977-08-19 06:08:55 (UTC),11.164°S 118.378°E, 25.0 km depth, magnitude 8.3 Mw (reference #13456, #13546 magnitude only)

Significant earthquakes of 1977 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1977 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 4779.