  Spatial and temporal data for earthquakes with magnitude M greater than or
equal to 6.5 can provide crucial information about the seismic history and
potential for large earthquakes in a region. We analyzed approximately 313,500
events that occurred in the Sunda-arc region during the last 56 years, from
1964 to 2020, reported by the International Seismological Center. We report a
persistent increase in the annual number of the events with mb greater than or
equal to 6.5. We tested this increase against the null hypothesis and discarded
the possibility of the increase being due to random groupings. The trend given
by Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average suggests continuing increase of
such large-magnitude events in the region during the next decade. At the same
time, the computed Gutenberg Richter b value shows anomalies that can be
related to the occurrence of the mega 2004 Sumatra earthquake, and to possible
state of high tectonic stress in the eastern parts of the region.
