September 12, 1763 Tsunami: Banda Sea, Indonesia
A tsunami caused by an earthquake began at Banda Sea, Indonesia on September 12, 1763. The water rose as high as 9 meters. Its effects were recorded at 3 places. It killed 7 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
Where the waves reached
The source (white) and every runup with a place, colored by the water height recorded there. A ring is a runup NCEI marks doubtful.
- Under 1 m
- 1 to 3 m
- 3 to 10 m
- 10 to 30 m
- 30 m and more
- Height not recorded
Travel times
How long the first wave took to reach each part of the ocean, one line for each hour up to 24, estimated from the source and the depth of the sea.
The travel times are computed in your browser, which needs JavaScript.
- 1 to 4 hours
- 5 to 6 hours
- 7 to 14 hours
- 15 hours and more
Computed in your browser the way NOAA’s own travel time maps are: the wave travels at the square root of gravity times the depth, over NOAA’s ETOPO1 depths averaged to a 10 arc-minute grid. Checked against NOAA NCEI’s maps for 21 tsunamis over the first 24 hours, these lines fall within 10 minutes of NCEI’s at half the points compared and within 52 minutes at 9 in 10. They give when the first wave could arrive, not how high it is; bays, harbors and island chains finer than the grid can see it later. Not for use in a warning: see tsunami.gov.
The tsunami
- Date
- September 12, 1763
- Source
- Banda Sea, Indonesia
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- The earthquake
- Maximum water height
- 9 m (29.5 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 3
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 2.5
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Probable tsunami
- Source location
- 6.000° S, 130.000° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 7
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- Many (101 to 1,000) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
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 #414:
1763, September 12 (1) at about 17:00 there was a strong earthquake, lasting 4 minutes, on the Banda Islands... During the first shock the sea level fell 9 m and then quickly rose (in less than 3 minutes). A large area of land was flooded. Seven people died.
Reference #79:
Reference #79 lists September 1, 1763.
Reference #132:
Reference #132 lists September 1, 1763. Reference #132 lists location in the Dutch East Indies, Moluccas. Sea rose and fell suddenly, inundating the land. (The Moluccas are now governed by Indonesia.)
Reference #1055:
lists September 1, 1763.
Reference #496:
1763, September 1. One of the Molucca Islands. At the time of the first shock the sea fell 5 fathoms, and then rose suddenly, inundating a large tract of land.
Reference #12917:
1763 Sept 12. There are sudden rises and falls in sea level, but Milne (1912) states that in some places even in the Moluccas only earthquakes occur and are not followed by sea waves.
Every runup
Nearest the source first. Heights are above sea level at the time; a tide gauge reads half the wave’s full height.
| Where | Country | Km from source | Water height, m | Inland, m | Measured by | First wave, UTC | Deaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banda Islands | Indonesia | 161 | 9 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 7 | ||
| Bandanaira (Banda-Neira), Banda Is. | Indonesia | 163 | 3.6 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Maluku Islands | Indonesia | 287 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 1763The 1700sTsunamis of IndonesiaThe earthquakeThis day in weather historyAlerts in force
Sources
Tsunami events and runups 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 tsunami event 479.