WhereIsAtlas · Indonesia

What Happened in the Flores Earthquake?

The 7.8-magnitude quake and tsunami that killed about 2,500 people on the island of Flores in 1992.

On 12 December 1992, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island of Flores triggered a tsunami that killed about 2,500 people. It remains one of the deadliest earthquakes and tsunamis in Indonesia's modern history.

The quake off Flores

On 12 December 1992, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck beneath the sea off the coast of the island of Flores, in eastern Indonesia. The quake was powerful and occurred offshore, where it can generate one of the most destructive phenomena in the region: a tsunami.

The tsunami

The earthquake-generated tsunami swept onto the nearby coastlines, with waves reaching several meters. Coastal communities, including the town of Maumere and surrounding villages, were hit hard. The waves arrived with little warning, and the loss of life was enormous.

The combination of the earthquake and the tsunami killed about 2,500 people.

A region built on fault lines

The Flores disaster is a powerful illustration of the seismic risk that runs through the Indonesian archipelago. The islands sit along some of the most active fault lines on Earth, and earthquakes and tsunamis are a recurring threat. The 1992 disaster foreshadowed the far larger 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami that would devastate the region a decade later.

The legacy

The 1992 Flores earthquake and tsunami remains one of the deadliest disasters in Indonesia's modern history. It is remembered as a stark lesson in the need for early warning and preparedness across a nation that must constantly live with the earth's movement.

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