West Sumatra, Dutch East Indies (today Indonesia) was struck by an earthquake doublet on June 28, 1926.

The Sunda megathrust carries the dip-slip component of the collision with the upper portion of the over-riding plate separated from the Sumatran fault zone by a small crustal sliver near the volcanic arc.

The latter proposes that it has a slip rate of about 23 ± 3 mm/yr based on the deflections of the rivers nearby the young Toba tuff.

The earthquake produced many surface displacements and also caused a rupture from Alahan Panjang to Lake Singkarak.

As the local Minangkabau people in the area were doing there day-to-day activities as well as participating in the market day they would be interrupted and maybe the reason as to the many casualties from the event.

One of the most popular icons in Bukittinggi, the Jam Gadang clock tower had tilted by 30 degrees while it was still under construction.

[3][5] The earthquakes destroyed the Diniyah Putri building, an Islamic school for girls which had been founded by Rahmah el Yunusiyah in 1923.