A Mw7.9 earthquake off Sumatra's Enggano Island caused over 100 deaths and was the first in a series of great ruptures along the Sunda megathrust in the 2000s.
Key Facts
- Magnitude
- Mw 7.9
- Max Mercalli Intensity
- VIII (Severe)
- Fatalities
- More than 100
- Injuries
- Up to 2,585
- Aftershocks
- Over 340 through end of 2000
- Epicenter area
- Off coast near Enggano Island, southern Sumatra
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The earthquake resulted from rupture along the Sunda megathrust, a major subduction zone running along the western coast of Sumatra where the Indo-Australian Plate subducts beneath the Eurasian Plate. This segment of the fault had accumulated significant tectonic stress prior to June 2000.
On 4 June 2000 at 23:28 local time, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck off the southern Sumatran coast near Enggano Island, reaching a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The mainshock was followed by an aftershock just eleven minutes later and more than 340 aftershocks throughout the remainder of the year.
The earthquake killed more than 100 people and injured up to 2,585. It proved to be the first and southernmost in a sequence of great earthquakes that progressively ruptured nearly the entire western Sunda megathrust through the 2000s, foreshadowing the catastrophic 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and subsequent major events in 2005 and 2007.
Human Cost
Each dot represents approximately 10,000 deaths. Total estimated: 100 (earthquake)