Proposed origins of the earthquake include shallow inland back-arc thrusting along a fault located within the upper crust on the island or rupture of the subduction zone off the southern coast of Java.

The total convergence rate across the Java Trench is about 6 to 7 cm a year, higher than most other major subduction zones in the region.

The Barbiris Fault which runs east–west south of Batavia (present-day Jakarta) may have been the source of the earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.0 to 8.0.

Prolonged inactivity in this section and the lack of historical record that might indicate any major subduction-type earthquakes signals the potential of a megathrust event in the Sunda Strait that can affect southern West Java and Sumatra.

If the Sunda Strait, Enggano, and West-Central Java megathrust segments rupture at the same time, the magnitude can exceed 9.0.