Journal of The School of Marine Science and Technology,Vol.3 No.1
Some observations and considerations on the damage to structures and coasts induced by the tsunami of the 2004 Sumatra earthquake
Omer AYDAN, Masanori HAMADAand Tomoji SUZUKI
Abstract
The Sumatra earthquake of December 26, 2004with a moment magnitude of 9.0 induced the most disastrous tsunami known in the history of mankind. The authors as the members of the reconnaissance team dispatched by Japan Society of Civil Engineers to Aceh Province of Indonesia visited the tsunami affected area and had the chance to observe the damage induced by the tsunami on various structures and the western and north-east coasts of Sumatra Island through land and aerial surveys. The tsunami wave height was 20m on the western coast and 10m in Banda Aceh City,which is the capital of the Aceh province.More than 220000people were killed in countries neighboring Indian Ocean.The number of people killed in Aceh province was 160000alone and some of towns and villages on the western coast were completely wiped away from the surface of the earth. The structures surveyed by the authors involve harbors,industrial facilities,airports,bridges,roadways,natural or cut-slopes,rivers and their embankments, buildings,coasts.Following the brief description of the characteristics of the 2004Sumatra earthquake and induced tsunami, the damage on various structures, buildings and coasts is presented and their engineering implications are discussed on the basis of sub-classifications of structures. The sole purpose of this report is illustrate the actual situation of damage caused by the tsunami of this mega-thrust earthquake,which may be of useful for the design of the tsunami-resistant structures and minimizing casualties in future.
     
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