August 14, 1968 Tsunami: Banda Sea, Indonesia
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake began at Banda Sea, Indonesia on August 14, 1968 at 22:14:19 UTC. The water rose as high as 10 meters. Its effects were recorded at 7 places in at least 2 countries. It killed 200 people.
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
The tsunami
- Date
- August 14, 1968, 22:14:19 UTC
- Source
- Banda Sea, Indonesia
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.8, 23 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 10 m (32.8 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 7
- Tsunami intensity (Soloviev-Imamura)
- 2.5
- Tsunami magnitude (Iida)
- 3.3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 0.200° N, 119.800° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 200
- Injuries
- 58
- Damage
- Severe (about $5 to $25 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 800
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:
On August 14, 1868, validity 4, there was a strong earthquake off the northwestern coast of Sulawesi Island. In the region of Manimbaja Bay, between Tandjung, Manimbaja, and Sabang, Sulawesi, displacements along faults caused the coast to subside 2-3 m. A destructive tsunami arose. According to the Indonesian Hydrographic Service, waves 9-10 m high fell on the coast in the region of Donggala; they pentrated 500 m inland. 160 people died, 40 people were lost and 58 were injured; 800 coastal homes were destroyed and large areas of coconut plantations were flooded. The villages of Tambu and Mapaga suffered especially.
Tunguan Island, where several hundred people lived, was flooded by waves and partly subsided. A police launch, sent from the lighthouse on Mankalihat Cape, supposedly could not find any trace of the island or its inhabitants. According to other sources, Tuguan Island rose.
Slight traces of the tsunami are made out with difficulty on the records of the most sensitive tide gauges on the south coast of Japan.
Reference #1188:
Loss of life and considerable damage were chiefly caused by the tsunami along the coast of Mapaga (200 people killed and missing, 790 wooden houses wrecked).
Reference #1039:
392 deaths.
Reference #1398:
500 m inland inundated, 10 m tsunami wave height, 200 died
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tambu | Indonesia | 29 | 10 | 300 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||
| Mapaga | Indonesia | 33 | Eyewitness observation of water height | 200 | |||
| Tuguan Island | Indonesia | 42 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Donggala | Indonesia | 98 | 10 | 500 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||
| Tosa-Shimizu | Japan | 3,861 | 0.06 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Kushimoto | Japan | 4,044 | 0.04 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | |||
| Mera | Japan | 4,371 | 0.03 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) |
More
Every tsunami in 1968The 1900sTsunamis 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 2007.