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 waves 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 100 approximate (from Jason 1 satellite altimeter)

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

Atlantic Ocean:

Cape Town, South Africa 96
Port Noloth, South Africa 50

Newlyn, United Kingdom 16

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 43

Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. 22
Port Canaveral, Florida, U.S. 34

San Juan, Puerto Rico 4
Charlotte Amalie, Virgin Islands 18

Bermuda 12

Imbituba, Brazil 150 approximate
Rio de Janiero, Brazil 30

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.

Tectonic Summary