An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale struck between

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands ...

and

Timor Timor (, , ) is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

on 14 May 1995. The shock centered in the

Ombai Strait Ombai Strait (, , ) is an international strait in Southeast Asia. It separates the Alor Archipelago from the islands of Wetar, Atauro, and Timor in the Lesser Sunda Islands. The strait is also the western portion of a pair of international stra ...

was associated with coastal

subsidence Subsidence is a general term for downward vertical movement of the Earth's surface, which can be caused by both natural processes and human activities. Subsidence involves little or no horizontal movement, which distinguishes it from slope mov ...

and a

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, ...

on Timor. A wave inundated up to inland and left 19 people injured and 11 missing. At

Dili Dili (Portuguese language, Portuguese and Tetum language, Tetum: ''Díli'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountai ...

, a tsunami destroyed homes and damaged 40 boats. Significant damage was also reported in

Maliana Maliana is a city in East Timor, 149 kilometers southwest of Dili, the national capital. It has a population of 22,000. It is the capital of the Districts of East Timor, district of Bobonaro District, Bobonaro and Maliana Subdistrict, and is ...

and Maubara while landslides affected the epicenter region. Subsidence was observed from Dili to Maboura; subsidence at Marinir may have been responsible for the tsunami run-up. Furthermore, a

submarine landslide Submarine landslides are marine landslides that transport sediment across the continental shelf and into the deep ocean. A submarine landslide is initiated when the downwards driving stress (gravity and other factors) exceeds the resisting stres ...

or one occurring near the sea may have caused the tsunami. There were no eyewitness account of the tsunami waves following the earthquake.

References

{{Earthquakes in 1995 Earthquakes in Indonesia Tsunamis in Indonesia May 1995 in Asia 1995 in Indonesia 1995 floods