Kapitel 172: A large 9 on the Richter scale

Aceh earthquake 2004 occurred at 07:58:53 WIB on Sunday, December 26, 2004 the epicenter was located off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake shaking was on a scale of 9.1–9.3 on the Moment strength scale and IX (Violent) on the Mercalli intensity scale.

Underwater megathrust earthquakes occur when the Indian Plate is pushed down by the Burma Plate and triggers a series of deadly tsunamis along the mainland coast bordering the Indian Ocean. The tsunami waves that reached 30 m high killed 230,000 – 280,000 people in 14 countries and drowned a number of coastal settlements. This earthquake and tsunami is one of the deadliest natural disasters in history. Indonesia is the worst affected country besides Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.