The 1982 Flores earthquake struck the island of

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...

in Indonesia on December 25. Registering a moment magnitude of 5.9, according to the

International Seismological Centre The International Seismological Centre (ISC) is a non-governmental, nonprofit organisation charged with the final collection, definitive analysis and publication of global seismicity. The ISC was formed in 1964 as an international organisation ...

, it created

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

s and was reportedly accompanied by a

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) 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 other underwater explo ...

. The earthquake killed thirteen people and left 390 injured, also destroying 1,875 houses and 121 other buildings. The villages of Layahong and Oyong Barang were damaged by seven seconds of shaking.

Tectonic setting

The

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up t ...

lie in a region with frequent seismicity, and there is a history of tsunamis in the area. Both the

subduction Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...

of the

Australian Plate The Australian Plate is a major tectonic plate in the eastern and, largely, southern hemispheres. Originally a part of the ancient continent of Gondwana, Australia remained connected to India and Antarctica until approximately when India broke ...

and the crust in the

Flores Sea The Flores Sea covers of water in Indonesia. The sea is bounded on the north by the island of Celebes and on the south by Sunda Islands of Flores and Sumbawa. Geography The seas that border the Flores Sea are the Bali Sea (to the west), Java ...

could be responsible for this activity.

Impact

The five most affected districts were evacuated of 6,000 people. The local and regional governments were petitioned for supplies like tents, medicine, and food. The earthquake was followed by several

aftershock In seismology, an aftershock is a smaller earthquake that follows a larger earthquake, in the same area of the main shock, caused as the displaced crust adjusts to the effects of the main shock. Large earthquakes can have hundreds to thousand ...

References

External links

* {{Earthquakes in Indonesia

Earthquakes in Indonesia Geography of Flores Island (Indonesia) December 1982 events in Asia 1982 disasters in Indonesia

Tectonic setting

Impact

See also

References

External links