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.