LAUSR

The earthquake activities along the Indonesian Sunda Margin, which is delineated parallel to the Indonesian Island chain, were statistically investigated. Utilizing the obtained completeness earthquake catalogue, the mapped spatial distributions of the (i) possible maximum magnitude, (ii) return period, and (iii) probability of exceedance of an earthquake of a given magnitude revealed that the Indonesian Island chain could be classified into three different hazard level groups. The highest hazard level was located along the segment of Padang to Jakarta, surrounding Ambon, and northeastern Palu, whereas the southwestern Yogyakarta, southwestern Bajawa, and Dili, were classified as an intermediate hazard level. Although Makassar, southern Praya, southern Bajawa, and southeastern Dili was classified as a relatively low hazard area (compared to the other areas in the Indonesian Island chain), a major earthquake (7.0 Mw) is still likely to occur with 10–20% probabilities in the next 50 years. Therefore, the contribution of suitable local mitigation plans for both seismic and tsunami hazards are strongly recommended for all the different regions within the Indonesian Island chain.