October 20, 1979 Earthquake: Sumbawa Island, Indonesia
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake struck Sumbawa Island, Indonesia on October 20, 1979 at 01:41:10 UTC, 38 km below the surface. It killed 2 people.
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
- October 20, 1979
- Time
- 01:41:10 UTC
- Place
- Sumbawa Island, Indonesia
- Magnitude
- 6.2 (Ms)
- Magnitude scales
- Ms 6.2 · mb 6
- Focal depth
- 38 km (24 mi)
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 8.254° S, 115.847° E
- Country
- Indonesia
- Region
- South and Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean
- USGS record
- The USGS’s page for this earthquake
Ms: surface-wave magnitude. mb: body-wave (P-wave) magnitude. NCEI’s headline magnitude is the best of these for the earthquake.
The toll
- Deaths
- 2
- Injuries
- 40
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 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.
Magnitude estimates
The magnitudes the USGS catalog lists for this earthquake, by scale and by who computed them. NCEI’s own scales are in the table above.
| Mag. | Scale | Computed by | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.2 | Ms, surface-wave | USGS National Earthquake Information Center | Preferred · Reviewed |
| 6.39 | Mw, moment | ISC-GEM global catalog | Final · ±0.1 |
| 6.4 | Mwc, centroid moment | Global CMT project | Preliminary |
Sources NCEI cites
The publications NCEI lists for this record. The numbers match the “reference #” notes in its account above.
- #1053 National Earthquake Information Center (NEIC) (1971 to 2013). Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (PDE), a weekly and monthly publication, National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Golden, Colorado, 1971 to 2013.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- November 22, 1815, Bali, Indonesia
- January 20, 1917, Bali, Indonesia
- July 14, 1976, Bali, Indonesia
- August 5, 2018, Lombok Island, Indonesia
- May 13, 1857, Dilhi, Gera, Timor Island, Indonesia
- December 17, 1979, Bali, Lombok, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia
- May 30, 1979, Sumbawa Island, Indonesia
- July 28, 2018, Lombok Island, Indonesia
- August 19, 2018, Lombok Island, Indonesia
- August 9, 2018, Lombok Island, Indonesia
- March 17, 2019, Lombok Island, Indonesia
- October 10, 2018, Madura Island, Java, Indonesia
- October 15, 2021, Karangasem, Bangli, Bali, Indonesia
- August 19, 2018, Lombok Island, Indonesia
- January 1, 2004, Bali, Lombok, Indonesia
More
Significant earthquakes of 1979The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1979Recent 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 4849. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event usp00013km, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.