M8.6 earthquake near Lahewa, North Sumatra

What happened

A magnitude 8.6 earthquake struck 78 km WSW of Singkil, Indonesia on 28 Mar 2005, 16:09 UTC at a depth of 30 km.

Earthquakes of this size are classed as Great. Can cause severe damage across hundreds of kilometres and may trigger tsunamis. This was a shallow earthquake, which tends to be felt more strongly at the surface.

The nearest town in our records is Lahewa, about 77 km away in North Sumatra, Indonesia.