Magnitude 9.1 - OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA

2004 December 26 00:58:53 UTC

Earthquake Details

Magnitude	9.1
Date-Time	Sunday, December 26, 2004 at 00:58:53 UTC Sunday, December 26, 2004 at 07:58:53 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	3.316°N, 95.854°E
Depth	30 km (18.6 miles) set by location program
Region	OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA
Distances	250 km (155 miles) SSE of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia 300 km (185 miles) W of Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia 1260 km (780 miles) SSW of BANGKOK, Thailand 1590 km (990 miles) NW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 5.6 km (3.5 miles); depth fixed by location program
Parameters	NST=276, Nph=276, Dmin=654.9 km, Rmss=1.04 sec, Gp= 29°, M-type=teleseismic moment magnitude (Mw), Version=U
Source	USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	us2004slav

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Earthquake Summary

Earthquake Summary Map

Felt Reports

This is the fourth largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and is the largest since the 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska earthquake. The tsunami caused more casualties than any other in recorded history. In total, more than 157,577 people were killed, 26,763 are still listed as missing and 1,075,350 were displaced in South Asia and East Africa. At least 110,229 people were killed by the earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia. Tsunamis killed at least 30,922 people in Sri Lanka, 10,749 in India, 5,303 in Thailand, 150 in Somalia, 81 in Maldives, 68 in Malaysia, 59 in Myanmar, 10 in Tanzania, 3 in Seychelles, 2 in Bangladesh and 1 in Kenya. Tsunamis caused damage in Madagascar and Mauritius and also occurred in Mozambique, South Africa, Australia and Antarctica. The tsunami crossed into the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and was recorded in New Zealand and along the west and east coasts of South and North America. The earthquake was felt (VIII) at Banda Aceh and (V) at Medan, Sumatra and (II-IV) in parts of Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Subsidence and landslides were observed in Sumatra. A mud volcano near Baratang, Andaman Islands began erupting on December 28.

Tectonic Summary

The devastating megathrust earthquake of December 26th, 2004 occurred on the interface of the India and Burma plates and was caused by the release of stresses that develop as the India plate subducts beneath the overriding Burma plate. The India plate begins its descent into the mantle at the Sunda trench which lies to the west of the earthquake's epicenter. The trench is the surface expression of the plate interface between the Australia and India plates, situated to the southwest of the trench, and the Burma and Sunda plates, situated to the northeast. MORE...

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