Magnitude 5.7 Earthquake Depth 136 km Strikes Kepulauan Barat Daya, Indonesia on 1st April 2025

Even though included in the Indonesian Maluku province political division, the southwestern islands are geographically part of the Lesser Sunda Islands. Rainfall is limited with a dry season between October and December when some of the islands appear as dry savannah. The Barat Daya Islands except Wetar are part of the Banda Sea Islands moist deciduous forests ecoregion. Wetar and Timor comprise the Timor and Wetar deciduous forests ecoregion. Most of the islands are barren, infertile and minimally forested.

Together with Timor, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, and most of Maluku, the Barat Daya Islands are part of Wallacea, the group of Indonesian islands that are separated by deep water from both the Australian and Asian continental shelves. The islands of Wallacea have never been linked by land to either Asia or Australia, and as a result have few mammals and a mix of flora and fauna from both continents.