Indonesia is a tsunami-prone country. From 1629 to 2018 there were 177 large and small tsunami disasters. Tsunamis are most often triggered by tectonic earthquake activity compared to marine landslides and volcanic eruptions.
Of the current population of Indonesia, 265 million people live in earthquake-prone areas of 148.4 million. While the people who live on the coast, beaches that are prone to tsunamis are 3.8 million. Here is the list of worst Indonesian tsunami.
- Sumatra Tsunami
On November 25, 1833, an earthquake shook the Sumatra region. It is estimated that the earthquake that occurred off the west coast of Sumatra has a magnitude of 8.8 to 9.2 on the Richter scale. The earthquake was caused by the rupture of the Sumatra trough segment along the 1,000 km southeast of the area which experienced the same thing in the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake.
The earthquake triggered a tsunami that hit the west coast of Sumatra, especially the closest area to the epicenter of the earthquake, Pariaman and Bengkulu. But this disaster is not well documented so that it is not known with certainty the impact and its victims. Previously in 1797, an earthquake measuring 8.5 to 8.7 on the Richter Scale also caused a tsunami on the coast of West Sumatra.
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- Krakatoa Tsunami
On August 26, 1883, the Krakatau Volcano erupted violently, breaking down the magma bag. The ruins triggered a big wave until it became a massive tsunami. In fact, according to the report it was stated that tsunami waves reached a height of 40 meters.
This tsunami wave was also detected up to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. The awesomeness of the Krakatau eruption was also reflected in the report that the sound of the eruption was even heard up to a radius of 4.830 kilometers away. This event caused at least 36,417 people death. After the eruption occurred, Krakatau spewed millions of tons of sulfur into the atmosphere to trigger a decline in global temperatures that lasted for five years.
- East Java Tsunami
On June 3, 1994, the earthquake and tsunami waves rocked the Banyuwangi region of East Java. The brunt of the tidal wave followed a tectonic earthquake at 10 South Latitude and 112.74 East Longitude, at a depth of 33 km.
The earthquake had magnitude 5.9 and the epicenter was about 225 km south of Malang, or in the Indian Ocean. The area that suffered most from the devastating natural disaster was mainly the southern Banyuwangi region. Banyuwangi is the worst reported area.
The earthquake gave birth to a 7 meter high tsunami wave. The waves were so fast and suddenly destroyed the fishing village. Like in Pancer Village, Pesanggaran District, Banyuwangi. The waves swept the fishing village which is located about 150 meters from the beach. At least 61 were killed and 213 houses were leveled to the ground.
- Tsunami Aceh
Maybe this is the biggest tsunami ever recorded in history. December 26, 2004, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake struck the Indian Ocean to trigger a deadly tsunami. At least 230,210 people died as a result of this incident.
This earthquake and tsunami destroyed the lives of Acehnese people, the majority of buildings were flat on the ground, many lost relatives because they were victims of this disaster. Previously, an earthquake with magnitude 9.3 hit Aceh 30 minutes before the tsunami struck.
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- Banggai Islands Tsunami (2000)
A 6.5 magnitude tectonic earthquake accompanied by a tsunami wave occurred in Banggai Kepulauan District, Central Sulawesi on May 4, 2000. The death toll from natural tectonic and tsunami earthquakes was around 46 people.
A tsunami about 3 meters high has damaged thousands of homes. As a result, around 3,000 residents of Banggai Kepulauan Regency (Bangkep) made an exodus to Luwuk. The issue of aftershocks and aftershocks made residents afraid and forced them to take refuge.
- Pangandaran Tsunami (2006)
A series of earthquakes rocked the southern coast of Java on July 17, 2006. It began with an earthquake with a magnitude of 8, then caused waves to sweep the coast. The big wave knocked out 125 boats and destroyed the fish auction site (TPI) in Karangduwur. In this village 20 warungs were washed out to sea after being swept away, while 150 fishing boats in Ayah and 372 boats on Suwuk Beach were destroyed.
The quake followed by the tidal wave was estimated to have left at least 100 people dead, hundreds more missing, and thousands of residents in a number of coastal areas fled to safer places. The earthquake which was followed by a tsunami was spreading sea waves.
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- Mentawai tsunami
The 2010 Mentawai Islands earthquake occurred on October 25, 2010 with 7.7 MW occurring off the coast of Sumatra. The USGS initially reported the epicenter of the earthquake occurred at a depth of 330 km, but was later revised that the depth of the epicenter of the earthquake was at a depth of 142 km and then 206 km.
USGS also initially estimated an earthquake magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale before revising it to 7.7 on the Richter scale. The earthquake was reported to have triggered a tsunami in the Macaronis Surfing Resort in the Mentawai Islands, which hit two chartered boats. As a result, 286 people were reported killed and 252 others reported missing.
- Central Sulawesi Tsunami (1968)
On August 10, 1968, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 rocked the Central Sulawesi region. Three days later the tsunami waves swept the Donggala area after numerous earthquakes. About 200 people were killed and houses were destroyed by the waves. The Kompas daily edition of August 24, 1968 explained that the waves also hit Tuguan Island, located not far from Central Sulawesi. As a result, around 500 family heads on Tuguan Island were declared missing when the earthquake occurred.
- Central Sulawesi Tsunami (2018)
The Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami struck again in 2018. This was the event of a 7.4 Mw earthquake followed by a tsunami that hit the west coast of Sulawesi Island, Indonesia, in the northern part of September 28, 2018, at 18.02 WITA. Earthquake shocks were felt in Donggala Regency, Palu City, Parigi Moutong Regency, Sigi Regency, Poso Regency, Tolitoli Regency, Mamuju Regency even to Samarinda City, Balikpapan City, and Makassar City. The earthquake triggered a tsunami up to 5 meters in the city of Palu.
While due to the 7.4 Mw earthquake followed by the Tsunami in Palu City until Saturday, September 29, 2018, at 3:00 p.m. WITA the death toll reached 844 people, more than 500 people were seriously injured, 29 people were missing and as many as 65,733 houses were damaged.
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- Sunda Strait Tsunami (2018)
On December 22, 2018, a tsunami caused by the eruption of Anak Krakatau in the Sunda Strait hit the coastal areas of Banten and Lampung, Indonesia. At least 429 people were killed and 1,485 injured due to this incident. According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the tsunami was caused by high tides and underwater landslides due to the eruption of the volcano. According to the facts, there was an avalanche of 64 hectares of Mount Krakatau which triggered a shock that led to the tsunami.
Those are the list of worst tsunami in Indonesia. Whenever you visit the beach in Indonesia, you have to be careful of the tsunami info around of your holiday area. Have a nice vacation!
