Intensity Information
Casualties and Damage
Tsunami Heights
Principal Sources of Information

This is the fourth largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and is the largest since the 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska earthquake. The earthquake itself caused severe damage and casualties in northern Sumatra, Indonesia and in the Nicobar Islands, India. The earthquake casualties are included with the tsunami statistics below.

The earthquake was felt at the following selected localities:

Indonesia	IX	at Banda Aceh
	VIII	at Meulaboh
	IV	at Medan and Sampali
	III	at Bukittinggi, Parapat and Payakumbuh
	Felt	at Jakarta
India	VII	at Port Blair, Andaman Islands
	IV	at Madras
	III	at Bengaluru and Vishakhapatnam
	Felt	at Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Calcutta and Kochi
Malaysia	V	at Gelugor Estate
	IV	at Sungai Ara
	III	at Alor Setar, George Town, Kampong Tanjong Bunga, Kuala Lumpur and Kulim
Thailand	V	at Hat Yai
	IV	at Bangkok
	III	at Chiang Mai and Phuket
Myanmar	IV	at Mandalay
	III	at Rangoon
Singapore	II	on Singapore
Bangladesh	III	at Dhaka
	Felt	at Chittagong
Sri Lanka	II	at Kandy and in other parts of Sri Lanka
Maldives	IV	at Male (nearly 2500 km from the epicenter)
Guam	Felt	by people in a high rise building at Hagatna (more than 5400 km from the epicenter)

The tsunami from this earthquake caused extreme destruction in South Asia, was recorded nearly world-wide and killed more people than any tsunami in recorded history. In total, at least 283,100 people were killed, 14,100 are missing and 1,126,900 were displaced by the earthquake and tsunami:

At least 108,100 people were killed, 127,700 are missing and presumed dead and 426,800 were displaced by the earthquake and tsunami in Aceh and Sumatera Utara Provinces, Indonesia. About 70 percent of the small-scale fishing fleet was destroyed. Tsunami runup heights of more than 30 meters were observed along the west coast of Sumatra.

At least 30,900 people were killed, 5,400 missing and 552,600 displaced by the tsunami in Sri Lanka, where wave heights were estimated to be 5-10 meters. About 66 percent of the fishing fleet was destroyed and 10 of 12 major fishing harbors in the country had some damage.

At least 10,700 people were killed, 5,600 missing and 112,500 displaced in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India. Wave heights were estimated to be more than 20 meters in the Andaman Islands and 10 meters on the east coast of India.

At least 5,300 people were killed, 8,400 injured and 3,100 missing along the west coast of Thailand, where wave heights were estimated to be as high as 3-5 meters in the Phuket area.

The tsunami also caused casualties and/or damage in the following countries:

Somalia	at least 150 people killed and about 5,000 displaced.
Maldives	82 people killed, 26 missing and more than 21,600 displaced.
Malaysia	68 people killed, 6 missing and about 4,200 displaced.
Myanmar	90 people killed, 10 missing and 3,200 displaced.
Tanzania	10 people killed.
Seychelles	3 people killed.
Bangladesh	2 people killed.
Kenya	1 person killed.
Madagascar	about 1,000 people displaced.
Mauritius	some damage.
Mozambique	tsunami was observed, but no damage reported.

In Australia, the tsunami caused minor damage at Geraldton and Mangles Bay. A 30 centimeter wave was observed at Penguin Island. People were swept into the ocean at Delambre Island and Geographe Bay, but all survived. The tsunami was observed at Busselton.

Maximum tsunami heights, peak-to-trough in centimeters, were recorded at the following selected tide stations:

Indian Ocean:   Kochi, India 130 Tuticorin, India 210 Vishakhapatnam, India 240   Diego Garcia, Chagos Archipelago 80   Colombo, Sri Lanka 260   Salalah, Oman 250   Lamu, Kenya 120   Zanzibar, Tanzania 80   Male, Maldives 210   Port Louis, Mauritius 210   Port Elizabeth, South Africa 273 Richards Bay, South Africa 165   East Ongul Island, Antarctica 75   Cocos Island, Australia 42 Esperance, Western Australia, Australia 80 Hillarys, Western Australia, Australia 90 Portland, Victoria, Australia 85   Mid-ocean, about 5 S, SSE of Sri Lanka (from Jason 1 satellite altimeter) approx. 100   Atlantic Ocean:   CapeTown,SouthAfrica 96 PortNoloth,SouthAfrica 50   Newlyn,UnitedKingdom 16   Halifax,NovaScotia,Canada 43   AtlanticCity,NewJersey,U.S. 22 PortCanaveral,Florida,U.S. 34   SanJuan,PuertoRico 4 CharlotteAmalie,VirginIslands 18   Bermuda 12   Imbituba,Brazil approx. 150 RiodeJaniero,Brazil 30

Pacific Ocean:   Rosslyn Bay, Queensland, Australia 25 Spring Bay, Tasmania, Australia 60   Chatham Island, New Zealand 35 Jackson Bay, South Island, New Zealand  65 Napier, North Island, New Zealand 30 Timaru, South Island, New Zealand 80   Port Vila, Vanuatu 15   Nukualofa, Tonga 10   Suva, Fiji 11   Pago Pago, American Samoa 10   Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia 5   Noumea, New Caledonia 10   Severo-Kurilsk, Russia 29   Bella Bella, British Columbia, Canada 9 Tofino, British Columbia, Canada 15   Adak, Alaska, U.S. 21 Sand Point, Alaska, U.S. 28 Crescent City, California, U.S. 61 Point Reyes, California, U.S. 39 Port San Luis, California, U.S. 53 San Diego, California, U.S. 32 Hilo, Hawaii, U.S. 18 Kahului, Hawaii, U.S. 30 Neah Bay, Washington, U.S. 13   Cabo San Lucas, Mexico 24 Manzanillo, Mexico 80   Acajutla, El Salvador 32   Baltra Island, Galapagos, Ecuador 36   Callao, Peru 68   Arica, Chile 72 Puerto Williams, Chile 29 Valparaiso, Chile 18

K. Abe has computed a tsunami magnitude (Mt) of 9.1 for this event.

Landslides and approximately 2 meters of subsidence were observed in Sumatra. A mud volcano became active near Baratang, Andaman Islands on December 28. Gas emissions were reported in Arakan, Myanmar. Seiches occurred in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal, India and as far away as Tulsa County, Oklahoma, United States. Water level fluctuations occurred in wells as far away as Florida, Nebraska and Virginia, United States.

Principal sources:

U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Situation Reports and ReliefWeb website as of 2 Feb 2005. For updates, see http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc100?OpenForm.

A. Rabinovich and J. Gower, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Canada, website http://www-sci.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/osap/projects/tsunami/default_e.htm.

NOAA, West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, webpage on the Indian Ocean tsunami, http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/IndianOSite/IndianO12-26-04.htm.

K. Abe and Y. Tsuji, et al., Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo, Special Event Page, at http://www.eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp/topics/SUMATRA2004/index-e.html.

S. Martin, Amateur Seismic Centre, Pune, India, Special Event page, at http://asc-india.org/events/041226_bob.htm.

V. Dent, University of Western Australia, Asian Tsunami effects in Western Australia, at http://www.seismicity.segs.uwa.edu.au/welcome/asian_tsunami_in_wa.

CNN website, at http://www.cnn.com/.

BBC World Service website, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/index.shtml.

Felt reports contributed to USGS "Did you feel it?" webpages, at: http://pasadena.wr.usgs.gov/shake/ous/index.html.