November 11, 2004 Tsunami: Kepulauan Alor, Indonesia
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake began at Kepulauan Alor, Indonesia on November 11, 2004 at 21:26:41 UTC. The water rose as high as 2 meters. Its effects were recorded at 3 places in at least 2 countries. It killed 34 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
- November 11, 2004, 21:26:41 UTC
- Source
- Kepulauan Alor, Indonesia
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.5, 10 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 2 m (6.6 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 3
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 8.152° S, 124.868° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 34 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- 400 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million); Severe (about $5 to $25 million) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- 781 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- 1; 16,712 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.
According to an e-mail from Dr. Fauzi at Indonesia's Meteorological & Geophysical Agency (BMG), dated
November 22 2004; a BMG team visited Alor and confirmed a tsunami with wave height from 1-2 meters and inundation to
50 meters had occurred. He also reported that inundation north of Kalabahi, on Mali Beach reached 30-50 meters inland. A news account posted to the Tsunami Bulletin Board, from News International Pakistan of November 13, 2004, reported over 17 killed in the earthquake with 160 others injured on Alor. The source also mentions that the earthquake was felt 50 kilometers away in the East Timor Capitol of Dili, where receding water grounded and caused some damage to a floating hotel in the harbor. (reference #2662)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mali Beach,kalabahi | Indonesia | 39 | 50 | Eyewitness observation of water height | |||
| Alor | Indonesia | 53 | 2 | 50 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||
| Dili, Timor Island | East Timor | 89 | 2 | Eyewitness observation of water height |
More
Every tsunami in 2004The 2000sTsunamis 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 3013.