2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami

A great earthquake struck beneath the Indian Ocean on the morning of 26 December 2004, about 250 km southwest of Banda Aceh and some 160 miles west of Sumatra, on the fault where the oceanic portion of the Indian Plate slides under the island. The wave caused extreme inundation and destruction along the northern and western coasts of Sumatra before crossing the ocean. Deaths in Indonesia are estimated at between 130,000 and 160,000, with a further 500,000 people left homeless, and between 5,000 and 8,000 died in Thailand.

Date and time (UTC)

2004-12-26T00:58

Highest recorded water height (m)

50.9

Cause, as the catalogue records it

earthquake

Magnitude of the causing earthquake

9.1

NCEI event page

www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/tsunami/event-more-info/2439

Category: Disasters & Incidents

Tags: earthquake, sumatra, indonesia, indian ocean, thailand

Coordinates: 3.295, 95.982

Part of Tsunamis with waves of 30 metres or more since 1950

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