The Banda Sea is the sea of the South Moluccas in Indonesia, technically part of the Pacific Ocean but separated from it by hundreds of islands, as well as the Halmahera and Ceram Seas. It is about 1000 km (600 mi) east to west, and about 500 km (300 mi) north to south.

Islands

Islands bordering the Banda Sea include Sulawesi to the west, Buru, Ambon Island, Ceram, Aru Islands, Tanimbar Islands, Barat Daya Islands, and Timor. Although the borders of the sea are hazardous to navigation, with many small rocky islands, the middle of the sea is relatively open. Island groups within the sea include the Banda Islands.

Plate Tectonic Activities in Banda Sea

In the east of Sunda Trench, there is the Timor Trough & then Aru Trough lies both at south of Timor & Tanimbar, which Aru Trough west of Aru Islands. These three trenches are the subduction zone of Indo-Australian plate beneath the Southeast Asian plate, where the Indo-Australian Plate moves nothwards. Fore-arc sediments progressively carried by northwards Indo-Australian Plate were & are folded , forming Timor Island.

Earthquakes

Earthquakes are very frequent in the area, due to the confluence of three tectonic plates - Eurasian, Pacific and Indo-Australian plates.

• 1938 Banda Sea earthquake
• 2005 Banda Sea earthquake
• 2006 Banda Sea earthquake

See also

• List of Indonesian earthquakes
• List of volcanoes in Indonesia#Banda_Sea

Further reading

• Ponder, H. W. (1944) In Javanese waters; some sidelights on a few of the countless lovely, little known islands scattered over the Banda sea & some glimpses of their strange & stormy history London, Seeley, Service & Co. ltd.
• Patrick D. Nunn(1994) Oceanic Islands Oxford, Great Britain, Blackwell