Gempa Nusantara: A Database of 7380 Macroseismic Observations for 1200 Historical Earthquakes in Indonesia from 1546 to 1950

Abstract

We present a new database called Gempa Nusantara, which is a collection of 7380 macroseismic observations for 1200 historical earthquakes in Indonesia between 1546 and 1950 C.E. using the European Macroseismic Scale (1998). Scrutinizing preserved original, first-hand, private, and official documentation from the colonial period in Indonesia, we could examine the completeness of this written record based on the gradual expansion of European influence in the Indonesian Archipelago. As the largest database of uniformly assessed macroseismic intensities ever assembled for Indonesia, our database can correct errors and fill gaps in other contemporary studies of historical Indonesian earthquakes, as well as paleoseismic studies such as the coral paleogeodetic record from Sumatra. Remarkably, given the presence of several major active faults, conclusive evidence of coseismic surface ruptures during the colonial period was limited to just two events in 1909 and 1933. Our reliance on original materials also allowed us to document extreme coseismic ground failure in Sumatra in 1936 with striking similarities to those observed on Sulawesi in 2018. From the perspective of seismic hazard in a rapidly urbanizing nation, we show that the frequencies of observed intensities over the duration of our database correspond with modern seismic hazard curves from recent publications by other authors for 12 Indonesian cities, including Jakarta, with some notable exceptions such as Ambon and Yogyakarta. In summary, our work on Gempa Nusantara demonstrates how a carefully vetted and well-documented historical record not only compliments studies of seismic hazard but is also itself an important standalone tool for the study of earthquake hazards in Indonesia.

Fragility of Indonesian houses: scenario damage analysis of the 2006 Yogyakarta and 2009 Padang earthquakes

“…1). Prior to the 2006 earthquake, the Opak Fault was regarded as the major active fault in the region and thought to be the source of damaging events in the past (Martin et al 2022). The 27 May 2006 Mw 6.4 event occurred at 12 km depth on a previously unidentified fault, 20 km east of the Opak Fault (Walter et al 2008).…”

Seismic source analysis of the destructive earthquake November 21, 2022, Mw 5.6 Cianjur (Indonesia) from relocated aftershock

“…According to the Indonesian earthquake catalogs between 1900 and 2016 2 , most of the earthquakes near the Cianjur district appear to cluster of the Cimandiri Fault Zone (CFZ) with left-lateral strike-slip faulting 4 , 5 . Based on historical records 6 , several destructive earthquakes occurred in Cianjur and the surrounding region, including events such as the October 10, 1834 with a maximum intensity of VIII, the February 15, 1844 with a maximum intensity of VIII, and the December 18, 1910 with a maximum intensity of VII. However, the causative faults remain unknown.…”