March 14, 2006 Tsunami: Seram Island, Indonesia

Name: March 14, 2006 Tsunami: Seram Island, Indonesia
Start: 2006-03-14
Location: Seram Island, Indonesia

March 14, 2006 · 3.5 m · 4 deaths · $1 million · 241 houses destroyed · Definite tsunami

A tsunami caused by a magnitude 6.7 earthquake began at Seram Island, Indonesia on March 14, 2006 at 06:57:33 UTC. The water rose as high as 3.5 meters. Its effects were recorded at 1 place. It killed 4 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

Tsunami warnings in force

The tsunami

Date: March 14, 2006, 06:57:33 UTC
Source: Seram Island, Indonesia
Cause: Earthquake
Earthquake: Magnitude 6.7, 30 km deep
Maximum water height: 3.5 m (11.5 ft)
Runups recorded: 1
Waters: Ocean
How certain: Definite tsunami
Source location: 3.595° S, 127.214° E

The toll

Deaths: 4
Damage: Moderate (about $1 to $5 million); $1 million with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
Houses destroyed: 241

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.

At least three people killed and one missing due to a

local tsunami with an observed wave height (peak-to-

trough) of 7 meters on Buru. Maximum inundation was about

100 meters. One hundred sixteen houses damaged or destroyed at Pela, 54 at Batu Jugku, 30 at Waimorot, 25 at Wailawa

and 16 at Waimoly. (reference #1053)

An earthquake of magnitude Mw 6.7 (Hrv) occurred on

March 14, 2006 at 3:58 local time, 105 km from Ambon,

Moluccas, Indonesia, just offshore of Buru Island,

Molucca-Indonesia. News sources reported one person killed on Buru, with another two people killed, one injured and one missing due to a local tsunami. The observed wave height was given as 5 meters (peak-to-trough), with maximum

runup approximately 100 meters from the shore. In a post-tsunami assessment, Yudhicara, Directorate of the Center for Volcanology and Hazard Mitigation in Bandung, Indonesia, noted that houses were destroyed, but none appeared to be washed away. Wave traces could be seen on buildings up to 40 cm from the ground in a village less than 1 meter above sea level. Some liquefaction was 1 m in diameter and 40 cm deep. Concurrently, Indonesian agencies with tide data found that none of three stations in the area recorded signs of a tsunami, but that a GLOSS station in Ambon showed a small disturbance that was difficult to identify as a tsunami wave. (reference #9201)

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
Buru Island	Indonesia	35	3.5	100	Eyewitness observation of water height		4

Every tsunami in 2006 The 2000s Tsunamis of Indonesia The earthquake This day in weather history Alerts 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 2875.