August 14, 2026 Tsunami: Flores Sea, Indonesia
A tsunami caused by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake began at Flores Sea, Indonesia on August 14, 2026 at 21:58:21 UTC. The water rose as high as 2.92 meters. Its effects were recorded at 44 places. It killed 142 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
- August 14, 2026, 21:58:21 UTC
- Source
- Flores Sea, Indonesia
- Cause
- Earthquake
- Earthquake
- Magnitude 7.7, 10 km deep
- Maximum water height
- 2.92 m (9.6 ft)
- Runups recorded
- 44
- Warning
- Local Tsunami Warning issued by a regional or national warning center
- Waters
- Ocean
- How certain
- Definite tsunami
- Source location
- 8.310° S, 121.352° E
The toll
- Deaths
- 142 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Injuries
- 1,603 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million); Extreme (about $25 million or more) with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses destroyed
- 3,413 with the earthquake or eruption that caused it
- Houses damaged
- 30,150 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.
A magnitude M7.7 tectonic earthquake struck the Flores region in East Nusa Tenggara on Saturday, August 15, 2026, at 04:58:23 WIB. BMKG's analysis indicates that the earthquake occurred at a depth of approximately 15 km, with its epicenter in the ocean. This earthquake triggered a tsunami due to its thrust-fault mechanism and its location in the ocean. Although it is part of the Flores Back-arc segment and shares a similar magnitude, this year's tsunami differs from the 1992 Flores Tsunami, which occurred near Babi Island. The 2026 Flores tsunami occurred in the ocean about 30 k.m northeast of Nagekeo, Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, so the damage caused by the tsunami was distributed across four provinces: East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), South Sulawesi, and Southeast Sulawesi […] Inundation in the West Manggarai area was only 3 m to 7 mm because it was blocked by the seawall. (reference #14504)
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sikka | Indonesia | 42 | 0.2 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 22:03 | ||
| Pota 1 | Indonesia | 51 | 0.78 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Pota 2 | Indonesia | 52 | 0.5 | Flow depth, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Pota 3 | Indonesia | 52 | 0.6 | Flow depth, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Maurole-Ende | Indonesia | 55 | 0.94 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 22:27 | ||
| Tompong 4 | Indonesia | 56 | 153 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Tompong 5 | Indonesia | 56 | 165 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Tompong 1 | Indonesia | 56 | 1.92 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Tompong 2 | Indonesia | 56 | 2.28 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Tompong 3 | Indonesia | 56 | 2.19 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Pota 1 | Indonesia | 65 | 1.53 | 280 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | ||
| Pota 2 | Indonesia | 66 | 1.97 | 31 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | ||
| Logo, Pota | Indonesia | 67 | 0.88 | 45 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | ||
| Manggarai Timur | Indonesia | 70 | 1.69 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 22:03 | ||
| Ng Baras | Indonesia | 70 | 0.6 | 90 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | ||
| St Padut 1 | Indonesia | 83 | 1.8 | 70 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | ||
| S Padut 2 | Indonesia | 83 | 1.93 | 73 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | ||
| Kampas 1 | Indonesia | 86 | 1.79 | 15 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | ||
| Kampas 2 | Indonesia | 87 | 1.62 | 39 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | ||
| Salama, 2 | Indonesia | 96 | 152 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Salama, 3 | Indonesia | 96 | 153 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Salama, 4 | Indonesia | 96 | 127 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Salama, 1 | Indonesia | 96 | 2.92 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Reo | Indonesia | 99 | 1.61 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 22:27 | ||
| Kp Pecah 2 | Indonesia | 99 | 65 | Runup height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Kp Pecah 1 | Indonesia | 99 | 2.15 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | |||
| Bungkang | Indonesia | 100 | 1.91 | 40 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | ||
| Maumereo | Indonesia | 101 | 0.29 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 22:27 | ||
| Robek | Indonesia | 103 | 1.31 | 20 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | ||
| Pel. Kewapante Sikka | Indonesia | 110 | 0.38 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 22:16 | ||
| Tj Boleng 1 | Indonesia | 155 | 0.78 | 5 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | ||
| Tj Boleng 2 | Indonesia | 155 | 0.69 | 7 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | ||
| Jampea | Indonesia | 160 | 0.5 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 22:24 | ||
| Batu Cermin | Indonesia | 162 | 0.27 | 3 | Water height, post-tsunami survey | ||
| Labuan Bajo | Indonesia | 164 | 0.36 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 22:26 | ||
| Flores Timur | Indonesia | 192 | 0.25 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 22:24 | ||
| Bakalang | Indonesia | 325 | 0.14 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 22:41 | ||
| Dompu | Indonesia | 327 | 0.17 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 22:29 | ||
| Bulukumba | Indonesia | 330 | 0.54 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 22:58 | ||
| Baubau | Indonesia | 345 | 0.3 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 22:47 | ||
| Pasarwajo, Buton Regency | Indonesia | 362 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Siotapina, Buton | Indonesia | 375 | Eyewitness observation of water height | ||||
| Galesong, Sulsel | Indonesia | 397 | 0.19 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 23:27 | ||
| Kolaka | Indonesia | 471 | 0.23 | Tide gauge (half the maximum wave height) | day 14, 23:27 |
More
Every tsunami in 2026The 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 6184.