December 25, 1982 Tsunami: Flores Sea, Indonesia
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6 earthquake and a landslide began at Flores Sea, Indonesia on December 25, 1982 at 12:28:02 UTC. It killed 13 people, counting the earthquake or eruption that caused it.
Where the waves reached
The source of the tsunami. No runup with a place is recorded for it.
- 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
- December 25, 1982, 12:28:02 UTC
- Source
- Flores Sea, Indonesia
- Cause
- Earthquake and landslide
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 6, 33 km deep
- Runups recorded
- 0
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Erroneous entry
- Source location
- 8.405° S, 123.080° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 13 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- 390 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- $1.5 million with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- 1,875 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.
1982, Dec 25. An earthquake of 6.3 magnitude killed 13 people, injured nearly 400 and damaged about 1,900 homes and 120 public buildings on the East part of Flores Island in Indonesia. The Flores Island is about 1,600 km east
of Jakarta. Further tremors were recorded on January 14 in several of the surrounding areas. No tsunami was reported. (reference #2073)
1982, Dec 25. An earthquake (Ms 5.9) occurred at 12:28 UT in the Flores Island region causing landslides. An unconfirmed tsunami was reported. (reference #1053).
1982, Dec 25. An earthquake (Ms 5.9) occurred at 12:28 UT in the Flora Island region causing landslides and damage and injuring 390. An unconfirmed tsunami was reported by PDE. (reference #1315)
More
Every tsunami in 1982The 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 2689.