Indonesia's deadliest earthquakes of the past decade

Sunday 16 August 2026 - 10:00

By: Sahili Aya

Indonesia's deadliest earthquakes of the past decade

Indonesia is confronting another deadly earthquake after a magnitude-7.7 tremor struck the country's eastern region on Saturday, killing at least 51 people according to the latest reported figures. Rescue teams were continuing their operations as authorities assessed the scale of the destruction.

The disaster is the latest in a long list of major earthquakes to strike Indonesia, an archipelago particularly exposed to seismic activity because it lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Data compiled by Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency, BNPB, shows that several earthquakes over the past decade have caused significant loss of life. Among them, the 2018 disaster in Sulawesi stands out as by far the deadliest.

Palu and Sigi: 4,141 deaths in 2018

On September 28, 2018, a magnitude-7.5 earthquake struck central Sulawesi, devastating Palu and surrounding areas.

The earthquake triggered a tsunami and widespread soil liquefaction, dramatically worsening the destruction across the region. Entire communities were affected as buildings collapsed, coastal areas were inundated and unstable ground caused further devastation.

According to BNPB figures, the disaster killed 4,141 people and injured another 4,438. A further 705 people were reported missing.

The destruction was also enormous in terms of housing. More than 110,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, leaving thousands of families without shelter and creating a long-term reconstruction challenge.

Why Indonesia remains highly vulnerable

Indonesia's geography helps explain its repeated exposure to powerful earthquakes. The country sits at the meeting point of several major tectonic plates, making seismic activity a persistent natural hazard.

The danger is not limited to the shaking itself. Depending on the location and depth of an earthquake, secondary disasters such as tsunamis, landslides and liquefaction can dramatically increase the number of casualties and the scale of damage.

The 2018 Palu disaster demonstrated how quickly several of these hazards can combine into a single catastrophe.

The latest earthquake adds to the toll

The magnitude-7.7 earthquake that struck eastern Indonesia on Saturday has already claimed at least 51 lives. Rescue operations remain underway, meaning the death toll could change as emergency teams reach isolated or heavily damaged areas.

Images from the aftermath showed destruction at the passenger port of Maumere in East Nusa Tenggara, illustrating the impact of the earthquake on vital infrastructure.

For Indonesia, the latest disaster is another reminder that preparedness, rapid emergency response and resilient infrastructure remain essential in a country where powerful earthquakes are an enduring threat.

A recurring national challenge

The contrast between the latest death toll and the 2018 catastrophe also illustrates the wide variation in the consequences of Indonesian earthquakes. Magnitude alone does not determine the human cost: population density, proximity to populated areas, infrastructure quality and secondary hazards can all influence the outcome.

As rescue teams continue working after Saturday's earthquake, authorities face the immediate task of locating survivors, restoring damaged infrastructure and assisting displaced communities.

The longer-term challenge is equally significant: reducing the vulnerability of communities before the next major earthquake strikes.