The 1977 Sumba earthquake (also called the Sumbawa earthquake) occurred approximately south of
Bima, Sumbawa, and beneath the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
, at . With a
moment magnitude of 8.3, the
earthquake
An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...
is notable for having an unusually great magnitude for a shock with a
normal faulting focal mechanism
The focal mechanism of an earthquake describes the Fault (geology)#Slip.2C heave.2C throw, deformation in the Hypocenter, source region that generates the seismic waves. In the case of a Fault (geology), fault-related event, it refers to the ori ...
.
[ The shock occurred near the southern section of the Sunda Trench where several other ]tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...
-generating earthquakes have occurred. The earthquake was at the time the largest outer-rise earthquake ever recorded in Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
, and aftershock
In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in Epicenter, the same area of the Mainshock, main shock, caused as the displaced Crust (geology), crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthq ...
s along the trench extended about eastward and westward from the epicenter.[
Although damage from the earthquake was limited to Indonesia, ground movement was reportedly felt as far afield as Albany in Australia, and the ]power supply
A power supply is an electrical device that supplies electric power to an electrical load. The main purpose of a power supply is to convert electric current from a source to the correct voltage, electric current, current, and frequency to power ...
was briefly cut in Port Hedland.[ A tsunami was generated with observed run-up heights of up to and inundation distances of up to at several locations on Sumba and ]Sumbawa
Sumbawa, is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. Along with Lombok, it forms the province of West Nusa Tenggara, but th ...
.[ The combined number of victims from both the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia was at least 107 confirmed dead and several dozen others missing, presumed dead; several sources combine the two for a total casualty figure of approximately 180 deaths and 1,100 injuries.][
]
See also
* List of earthquakes in 1977
* List of earthquakes in Indonesia
*List of earthquakes in Australia
This is a list of significant earthquakes recorded in Australia and its territories. The currency used is the Australian dollar (A$) unless noted otherwise.
List of earthquakes
Other earthquakes
*Broome, Western Australia, Broome, 16 August 1 ...
References
Sources
*
*
External links
*
{{Earthquakes in Indonesia
1977 earthquakes
Earthquakes in Indonesia
1970s tsunamis
Tsunamis in Australia
Tsunamis in Indonesia
August 1977 in Asia