The 1984 Northern Sumatra earthquake occurred with a moment magnitude of 7.2 on November 17 at 06:49 UTC.

The epicentre was located off the coast of Sumatra, near the island of Nias, where building damage was reported.

This earthquake could be strongly felt in parts of Northern Sumatra, including Padang and Medan.

The major slip events on the subduction zone interface are typically of megathrust type.

Historically, megathrust earthquakes have been recorded in 1797, 1833, 1861, 2004, 2005 and 2007, most of them being associated with devastating tsunamis.