The Indian Ocean Tsunami 26th December 2004

Antonios Pomonis, Risk Management Solutions.

Dr Tiziana Rossetto, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University College London.
Dr Sean Wilkinson, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Newcastle
Domenico Del Re, Buro Happold, London
Dr Navin Peiris, Arup, London.
Raymond Koo, Arup, Hong Kong.
Raul Manlapig, Arup, Philippines.
Dr Stewart Gallocher, Halcrow, Glasgow.

INTRODUCTION

The Earthquake
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On 26 December 2004 at 00:58:53 GMT (7:58:53 am local time) a great earthquake occurred off the
west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. This magnitude 9 (Mw) earthquake is the largest to have
occurred since the 1964 Prince William Sound Event (Alaska), and only the fourth largest since 1900.
The causative fault is located in the Sunda Trench subduction zone to the west of Sumatra Island
where the Indian Ocean Plate dips under the Burma Micro plate. At this location the Indian Ocean
floor is moving at a rate of 60mm/year in a general north- east direction. The epicenter coordinates
are estimated at 3.308 N and 95.874 E (Source: www.usgs.gov), with a focal depth in the range of 10
to 30km and approximately 250km offshore of the Western Sumatran Coast,. The aftershock
distribution suggests a main fault rupture zone 150km in width extending 1300km to the North up to
the Andaman Island chain - although it is not yet certain that this whole area acted as the initiator for
the tsunami. This main thrust fault caused an uplift of the sea floor East of the Sunda trench of up to 5
meters (NASA: http//earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards).

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Figure 1: The epicentral and aftershock locations of the Mw9 Indian Ocean Earthquake of the 26
December 2004, (Source: www.usgs.gov).

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 1 26th December 2004

Figure 2: Graphical representation of the Sumatran subduction zone (the wavy lines and dots) where
the Indian/Australian tectonic plate moves below the Eurasian tectonic plate, (Source:
http://today.caltech.edu).

Earthquake Affected Regions

Heavy damage, building collapses and panic were all reported from Indonesia's Aceh province -
especially in the main city of Banda Aceh. The main quake also caused considerable panic in the city
of Medan (population 2.5 million) located on the north eastern coast in the neighbouring province of
Sumatera Uttara. On the Andaman & Nicobar Islands many buildings suffered direct damage. For
instance, at Port Blair cracks appeared in the roads and the buildings were violently shaken. Severe
shaking, strong enough to knock people to the ground, was also experienced at Car Nicobar and
some buildings within the Indian Air Force base were seriously damaged.

Elsewhere, the earthquake was also felt widely along the east coast of India. In Tamil Nadu, people
felt distinct tremors in most parts of Chennai. At Bhubaneswar in Orissa many people left their homes,
and ground shaking was experienced in Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Koraput and Sunabeda. Tremors were
also reported from the coastal belt of Andhra Pradesh from Srikakulam to Chittoor as well as in the
cities of Nellore, Vishakhapatnam and Vizianagaram. People in Vishakhapatnam ran out of their
homes in panic, especially at the East Point Colony, MVP Colony and Seethamanmadhara areas.
Tremors were also felt in Kochi in Kerala and Bangalore in Karnataka. A few buildings developed
cracks at Bhubaneswar, Chennai and Vishakhapatnam however there are no reports of major
damage from any parts of mainland India due to this earthquake. The earthquake was also felt in
Kolkata (West Bengal), in Dhanbad and the surrounding towns in Jharkhand.

In Sri Lanka, locations in the center of the island such as Kandy also felt the tremors lasting a
significant duration. The tremor was also felt in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and other cities in Thailand. In
Malaysia, several high-rise buildings were evacuated including the cities of Penang and Port Klang.
The shock was also felt at Alor Star and Pangkor. Residents of Singapore also felt the earthquake. In
Bangladesh, the quake was felt at Dhaka and Chittagong and in most parts of the country. (Main
Source: Amateur Seismic Center – India; http://asc-india.org/events/041226_bob.htm).

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 2 26th December 2004

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Figure 3: Maps of felt ground shaking reports for the Indian Ocean Earthquake of the 26 December
2004. The map on the left is produced from 47 reports by the Amateur Seismic Center-India, (Source:
http://asc-india.org). The map on the right is produced from 317 reports by the U.S. Geological Survey
(Source: www.usgs.gov)

The Tsunami

The sudden and violent vertical displacement of the sea floor caused a disturbance to the overlying
water column, which generated at least three waves that propagated rapidly across the whole of the
Indian Ocean. These types of waves are called “Tsunami” after the Japanese for “harbour waves”.
Typically, in open ocean waters, these waves have long wavelengths of the order of 200km and low
trough to crest amplitudes. These properties allow them to conserve energy as they propagate over
large distances. From previous observations and measurements of past Tsunami that propagated
across the Pacific Ocean, the wave group velocity has been estimated at 640km per hour (NASA:
http://www-misr.jpl.nasa.gov/). As the waves enter the shallower waters of coastal areas, their
amplitude increases dramatically and their velocity reduces, resulting in violent wave impacts and
extensive flood inundation inland.

Tsunami Affected Regions

The waves arrived at the coast of Aceh province within half an hour of the main shock. Heavy
damage and fatalities are reported from Banda Aceh (population 322,000) and other towns in this
province. Satellite photos show the true extent of the damage to the city, with large sections in the
north of the town having been completely washed away. The Indonesian army and police cordoned
off these sections to survivors as they cleared away thousands of bodies. Many fishing villages and
towns such as Calang and Meulaboh, along the west coast also show near complete devastation.
People are believed to have watched the water recede and then run to pick up fish left stranded on
the seafloor, whilst others rushed to take photographs. The waves inundated the coast to a significant
degree but in some places their force was arrested by high cliffs along the shore.The tsunami traveled
east across the Andaman sea and west across the Indian Ocean. The tsunami traveled more slowly
in the shallower waters of the Andaman Sea and the Malacca straits.

In Sri Lanka, a wave reported by the press as being 40 feet (12m) high struck the eastern and
southern coast. Residents of Colombo sought refuge on higher ground in fear as coastal areas of the

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 3 26th December 2004

city were hit by the tsunami. Other affected areas include Batticaloa, Galle, Jaffna, Matara and
Trincomalee to mention a few. A passenger train on its way from Colombo to Matara was washed
away killing over a 1,000 people including locals who clambered aboard hoping it would save their
lives. Buses and cars were washed out to sea and numerous seaside communities like Hambantota
were devastated. Here, as in Indonesia, some people were puzzled by the recession of the water and
rushed forward to view this rare phenomenon only to then be caught by the ensuing waves. People in
Trincomalee were thought to have gathered "bag loads of colourful fish" before the tsunami crashed
ashore.

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Figure 4: Graphical representation of the predicted Indian Ocean Tsunami (26 December 2004)
wave heights and travel times (Source: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards)

Press agencies reported a wave nearly 16 feet (5m) high to have hit the resort island of Phuket in
Thailand. Many parts of the Thai coast were badly affected and many popular tourist resorts like Khao
Lak and Koh Phi Phi were completely devastated. Thousands of tourists vacationing in the area were
amongst the fatalities. In one location, a patrol boat was found to have been washed 1.2km inland
and elsewhere a shark was discovered in a hotel swimming pool and two dolphins were stranded in
an inland pond.

In the Nicobar Islands, the tsunami caused widespread damage wiping out entire villages like
Campbell Bay on Great Nicobar Island and Malacca on Car Nicobar Island. Waves nearly 3-storeys

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 4 26th December 2004

high, devastated the Indian Air Force base near Malacca. Satellite photographs detailed the extent of
tidal inundation in these islands with some parts of Car Nicobar and Trinkat Islands permanently
submerged. The worst affected island in the Andaman & Nicobar chain is Katchall Island with 303
people confirmed dead and 4,354 missing out of a total population of 5,312. The islands of Camorta,
Car Nicobar and Trinkat also reported heavy human losses. In the Andaman Islands, considerable
tsunami related damage was produced at Port Blair, leaving ships perched atop dockside walls and
on adjacent roads.

A large tidal surge also struck the entire eastern Indian seaboard. In the city of Chennai, the surge
covered the entire breadth of Marina Beach with cars and boats carried away by the waters. Local
television stations showed panic stricken people fleeing in ankle-deep water that flooded roads
alongside the Marina with city landmarks such as the Ashtalakshmi Temple and the Santhome
Church also flooded. The worst affected region in Tamil Nadu was the port city of Nagapattinam,
where entire neighbourhoods were washed away and hundreds of pilgrims living around the Shrine of
Our Lady of Health at Vellankani were drowned. Destruction was reported in Cuddalore, Pondicherry
and Kanyakumari where hundreds of tourists were trapped at the Vivekananda Memorial for several
hours before being rescued. Further north in Andhra Pradesh, tsunami damage was reported from
Nellore, Machlipatinam and Vishakhapatnam amongst others. Many people that had gathered at a
beach near Machlipatinam for religious ceremonies were swept away. Tidal surges caused damage
and fatalities in parts of coastal Kerala, the worst hit village being Kollam. Tidal surges were also
reported in Mangalore and Suratkal, in Karnataka and all along the coast of Goa including the city of
Vasco. Minor damage was reported along the coast of Maharashtra, most notably in the region of
Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg, where coastal flooding and strong currents swept away boats and
inundated coastal roads and houses. Noticeable but smaller surges were also experienced in
Mumbai. Tsunami were observed in Orissa and West Bengal but did not cause any damage. Again,
eyewitnesses state that the sea first receded leaving the sea bed exposed for a few moments, during
which children and adults alike rushed to gather stranded fish.

The tsunami also struck the Maldives killing many people and submerging buildings in the capital,
Male (population 300,000). Tsunami activity was also reported in Malaysia and in Burma. In the latter
locality, many buildings and bridges were damaged in the town of Kawthaung. The Australian Cocos
Islands were hit by a half metre tsunami wave, however, no wave activity was reported on the
Australian mainland. Surges inundated coastal areas of Oman and a few people were injured in 5-
metre waves that hit the Maharah region. Tsunami activity was also observed in East Africa with
boats capsized in the Puntland region of Somalia resulting in many fishermen being washed away.
Further south in the Seychelles, many fatalities were reported in the island of Mahe, which was
submerged by the waters. In Malindi, Kenya, one person was killed and many others were reported
missing. The Rodrigues Islands and beaches on north Mauritius were flooded. The French
administered Reunion Island suffered damage to boats in harbours from the tsunami. In Zanzibar
near Tanzania, hotel guests were evacuated to higher ground. A half metre wave was recorded at
Port Elizabeth in South Africa and other locations such as Durban Harbour also recorded unusually
strong currents. More than 1200 people were left homeless by the waves on the east coast of
Madagascar. Tide gauges in countries around the Pacific Rim recorded minor wave activity. This type
of activity was recorded as far as Alaska, Hawaii and San Diego in the United States, Callao and
Inquique in Chile, in New Zealand, Fiji, Vanuatu and American Samoa. In Mexico, 8-foot waves
slammed into the town of Manzanillo. (Main Source: Amateur Seismic Center – India; http://asc-
india.org/events/041226_bob.htm).

Life Loss

At the time of writing this report, life loss estimates exceed 290,000 people, including a very large
number of missing persons. The worst hit country in terms of fatalities was Indonesia where over
237,071 are listed as dead or missing. The remaining fatalities occurred in Sri Lanka (30,957), India
(10,749), and Thailand (5,393). In Thailand some of the worst affected areas were tourist resorts
where thousands of holidaymakers from all over the world lost their lives. In addition there were 298
reported fatalities in Somalia (this number is rumored to have been inflated), 82 in the Maldives, 68 in
Malaysia, 61 in Myanmar and 10 in Tanzania. A further 3,071 and 5,644 people are missing in
Thailand and Sri Lanka respectively, but may be significantly less due to possible double counting.
The number of missing persons in India currently stands at 5,640.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 5 26th December 2004

THE EEFIT MISSION

An EEFIT committee decision to launch a mission to the Indian Ocean Tsunami affected regions was
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taken on the 11 January 2005. On the 21 January the following team departed for Sri Lanka:
• Antonios Pomonis (Team Leader – Risk Management Solutions)
• Dr Sean Wilkinson (University of Newcastle)
• Dr Tiziana Rossetto (University College London)
• Domenico Del Re (Buro Happold, London)
• Dr Navin Peiris (Ove Arup, London)
• Dr Stewart Gallocher (Halcrow, Glasgow)
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On the 26 January, Dr Peiris remained in Sri Lanka for further investigation, Dr Gallocher returned to
Glasgow, whilst the rest of the team continued the mission to Thailand. It was unfortunately not
possible to visit the heavily affected provinces of Eastern Sri Lanka due to large distances involved
and lack of time, considering that the team was also committed to visit Thailand where a large number
of engineered structures was affected by extremely high tsunami. Once in Thailand we were joined
by:
• Raul Manlapig (Ove Arup, Philippines)
• Raymond Koo (Ove Arup, Hong Kong)
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Field investigations continued in Thailand until 1 February 2005

Figure 5: The EEFIT Team in Sri Lanka (above) and Thailand (below)

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 6 26th December 2004

SRI LANKA

The EEFIT team visited areas of southern Sri Lanka in the region between Colombo and Dondra, the
southernmost tip of the island. In this report we will discuss the distribution of damage in the area
visited, describe the buildings and lifeline infrastructure, discuss the effects on coastal inhabitants, but
refrain from estimating the potential loading on structures due to different wave velocities, heights and
densities. More detailed analysis will follow in the full scale EEFIT report to be published in the next
few months.

Building typology in the survey region

The following is a description of the buildings in the region between Colombo and Dondra. The
observations described below are based on the inspection of many damaged or buildings under
construction.

Unreinforced Masonry Detached Housing

This type of housing is very common throughout the coastal zones visited. It consists of regular single
storey dwellings that are free-standing, vary in plan area but generally consist of a maximum of three
rooms. The build quality of these houses is generally poor with the masonry walls formed from a
range of materials of varying thicknesses. Some of the materials observed are: semi-fired large clay
blocks, solid bricks, perforated bricks and concrete block. The average wall thickness is of the order
of 200mm, but in some instances ½ brick (125mm) thick walls can be observed. The mortars
generally exhibited poor strength due to low cement content and poor control during mixing. The
thickness of the walls, quality of mortar and size and aspect of the bricks all influence the ability of the
walls to resist wave impact and flood inundation loading.
The wall footings are shallow and consist either of a thick reinforced concrete raft foundation or
masonry strip foundations. The roof construction is normally assembled from pitched timber truss
roofs, often up to 2 metres high, with clay tile covering and overhangs.

Figure 6: Example of the Unreinforced Masonry Detached Housing class of buildings

Low-rise Reinforced Concrete (RC) Detached Housing and Small Commercial Buildings

These houses are non-engineered RC frames that are typically single storey but can be seen to reach
a maximum of 3 storeys in height. Both beams and columns typically have 200x200mm sections, are
reinforced with four smooth low-yield bars of 12mm diameter and widely spaced 4mm ties with 90°
hooks. Infill materials are similar to those described above for the un-reinforced masonry building
type.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 7 26th December 2004

Figure 7: Example of the Low-rise RC Detached Housing and Small Commercial Buildings class of
structures.

Mid-rise Reinforced Concrete (RC) Non-residential Buildings

These buildings have up to 6 floors and are of superior construction standards to those described
earlier, with better detailing and larger load-bearing element dimensions. Their occupancy varies and
they are mainly used as commercial and public buildings including large schools, hospitals, hotels and
offices.

Figure 8: Mid-rise RC commercial building in Galle.

Brief damage observations for the region between Colombo and Dondra

Western Province

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 8 26th December 2004

The Western Province contains the districts of Gampaha, Colombo and Kalutara (listed from north to
south). Some wave activity was reported along the coast from the Capital Colombo to Negombo in
the Gampaha district near the Bandaranaike International Airport. However no structural damage was
reported in this region with only one death reported.

Colombo District
Although casualty figures in Colombo district were very low (70 deaths, 64 injured and 12 missing),
the number of persons displaced was 31,239. This may be attributed to inundation causing damage to
homes though people were able to escape the incoming waves.

Colombo to Moratuwa
Inundation was observed along the coast between Colombo and Moratuwa with water reaching inland
up to the coastal railroad from Matara to Colombo. There was structural damage reported in isolated
areas such as Mount Lavinia and Wellawata that are at low lying locations.

Moratuwa
Continuous damage from the tsunami starts just south of Colombo, in the town of Moratuwa. This is
the southernmost town in the Colombo district, close to the boundary with Kalutara district. Damage
was concentrated on the coastal side of Road 2, where a number of low cost houses, perhaps of local
fishermen and other relatively low income people, had settled on a narrow strip of land between the
beach and the railway line. The main construction types are unreinforced masonry houses and timber
dwellings. Almost all the coastal houses within 20-30m from the sea have been destroyed. The typical
failure mechanism involves firstly the loss of load-bearing masonry stability due to inward out-of-plane
collapse of the masonry wall panels from tsunami wave pressure, followed by the collapse of the roof.
A few low-rise reinforced concrete frame houses are still standing with gaping holes in the place of the
infills.

Kalutara district
This is the district worst affected by the tsunami in the Western province. The number of people killed
and missing in this district was 256 and 155 respectively, with an additional 400 people injured and an
estimated number of displaced persons at 27,713 (Source: Centre for National Operations, CNO, Sri
Lanka).

There are about 35 kilometres of Indian Ocean coast in this district. The main coastal towns are:
Panadura, Wadduwa, Kalutara and Beruwala. Kalutara is 42-km south of Colombo and was once an
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important spice-trading centre controlled in turn by the Portuguese, Dutch and British during the 16
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to 20 century period. Beruwala and Bentota (just to the south of Beruwala) are Sri Lanka’s most
important tourist resorts catering primarily for package tours. Beruwala, 58-km south of Colombo was
the first Muslim settlement on the island, dating back to 1024AD and is the site of an important
mosque. In Beruwala there is a small fishermens’ and yachting port protected by massive rock stone
jetties.

Much of Road 2 between Moratuwa and Beruwala, runs several hundred metres inland and therefore
much of the coastal damage could not be easily inspected. Linear town development takes place
along the whole stretch of road 2 in Kalutara district, with mostly detached housing and small
commercial establishments, a characteristic that continues all the way to Dondra.

Paiyagala village
Driving south from Kalutara town it is clear that the level of tsunami inundation is becoming more and
more severe with the first signs of devastation seen in Paiyagala village. This is the first coastal
village on Road 2 south of Galle that was clearly devastated by the force of the tsunami. Its location is
on the coast spreading out on either side of the road and the railway line roughly midway between the
towns of Kalutara and Beluwara. Almost all of the masonry buildings adjacent to the roadway
collapsed or were severely damaged, although some concrete frame 2-storey houses survived
virtually intact. Extensive but repairable damage extended for 200m inland of the coastal road.
Evidence of flood inundation is visible up to 700m and according to local witnesses may have reached
1km. In general the damage to masonry was concentrated on panels facing the sea, whilst those
perpendicular to it remained standing.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 9 26th December 2004

Figure 9: Typical damage to infill walls parallel to the coastline, observed in Paiyagala (Kalutara
District).

Southern Province
The Southern Province contains the districts of Galle, Matara and Hambantota (listed from west to
east). Along with the Eastern and Northern provinces they form the worst affected parts of Sri Lanka
where more than 95% of the life loss occurred. The number of people killed and missing in this
province was 10,058 and 2,130 respectively, with an additional 7,326 people injured and an estimated
number of displaced persons at 159,195 (Source: CNO).

Galle district
The first town entering Galle district from the north on Road 2 is Bentota, a tourist resort town. In this
town there are two old railway bridges at the crossing of the river Bentota Ganga.

Bentota to Ambalangoda
Driving south from Kalutara town it is clear that the level of tsunami inundation is becoming more and
more severe with the first signs of devastation seen in Paiyagala village as described earlier.
Damage similar to that of Paiyagala is seen in parts of a 10-km stretch of road between Induruwa and
the town of Balapitiya, including the tourist village of Kosgoda and the village of Ahungalla. The
variation in damage severity along the coastal road is significant. Some locations such as just south
of Ahungalla are devastated while others have less severe damage. Again damage to the masonry
houses is most severe. Entering the main street of Balapitiya town (at this point the road runs
approximately 500m inland) there is no damage except for some houses close to a river running
between Balapitiya and Ambalangoda. On the stretch of road between Ambalangoda and the main
tourist resort of Hikkaduwa there are many coastal hotels that have suffered some significant
damage.

Ambalangoda to Hikkaduwa
Entering the main street of Ambalangoda town (approximately 500 m from the coast) there is no
damage, but at the point where the road nears the beach, about 1-km south of the town centre,
extensive damage is observed. In this locality a large group of local people wearing USAID T-shirts
and hats were seen working on general clean-up of the area. Between Ambalangoda and Hikkaduwa
there is a small fishermens’ village called Kahawa that was seriously damaged. Building failure was
mainly caused by a combination of deep scouring beneath the foundations and inundation. Fishing
boats had also been transported inland by the tsunami and just south of Kahawa there is a low-lying
and small truss iron road bridge that has apparently been damaged but is now repaired and passable.
In the stretch of road between Kahawa and the town of Hikkaduwa there is extensive devastation.
Since this was the area with the greatest observed damage, the team ventured further inland to
observe the extent of the affected area. It is within this stretch of land that a train bound for Matara
was derailed by the tsunami waters, some 200 metres from shore, causing numerous casualties.
Buildings beyond the railway line also suffered extensive damage however, the damage in Hikkaduwa
itself is fairly moderate. The town is among the most popular resorts in Sri Lanka and well known for

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 10 26th December 2004

the underwater attractions of the coral reef. It has grown to overtake the villages to its south and now
stretches 3-4-kms (up towards Dodanduwa). Similar to Bentota, there is a coral reef sanctuary just
200 metres off the coast that may have significantly affected the way the tsunami acted on this stretch
of coast. Damage in the southern part of town (between Thiranagama and Dodanduwa) certainly did
not seem as serious as one might expect and this can probably be attributed to the natural
breakwater protection offered by the coral reef. It should be noted that hotels along the coast suffered
minor structural damage and were open to tourists at the time of the field mission.

Figure 10: Pictures of the scour damage seen in Kahawa (Galle District).

Hikkaduwa to Galle
Damage is again very serious on the stretch of road between Boossa, Gintota and all the way to the
entrance to the city of Galle.

Galle City
The historical port town of Galle lies 115km south of Colombo and is home to 92,000 people. It is
dominated by an 89-acre Dutch Fort, built in 1663, with its massive ramparts located on a promontory
at the west entrance to the city. The fort sustained no visible structural damage, although flood
damage to the museum within the fort walls has been reported. The main town is built along the
coastline of the harbour bay between the Dutch Fort (to the west) and the main port (to the east).
Heavy damage was observed in the first row of buildings facing the sea. These are located about 30m

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 11 26th December 2004

from the shore at an elevation of about 1m above mean sea level. The depth of water within the
harbour ranges from 10m at the mouth of the harbour to 2m at the coastline. In Galle town centre, the
main building types are low and mid-rise RC infilled frames of typically low quality construction with
mixed commercial and residential use. A few buildings collapsed and many lost infill panels facing the
seafront or sustained significant damage to the ground storey windows and shop fronts. A fish market
building consisting of a wooden truss roof supported on poorly constructed 400mm diameter circular
masonry columns was also destroyed along the coast. Also collapsed were the lightly reinforced
concrete bus stands at the main bus station, (scene of the widely reported and played video footage
transmitted by various news organisations). Collapse of buildings and flood damage was observed to
extend further inland towards residential areas located to the east of the main town.

Figure 11: Pictures of damage to masonry houses in Galle Town.

The buildings and the quay walls at Galle Harbour, whose many purpose is to serve as a distribution
point to the local cement plant, survived the incoming waves of the tsunami from both the east and
west. A scour hole about 10m wide and extending 20m back from the eastern quay wall was visible
however, no damage was observed to the quay wall itself. A cargo ship, with an approximate
displacement of 500t, was washed up on to the quay wall in the northeast corner of the harbour and
some other vessels were dragged about 300m from the quayside. However, the harbour was fully
functional within days of the event and the cement plant did not suffer any structural damage.
Although the inundation rose to approximately 3m above high water level and damaged the

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 12 26th December 2004

manufacturing plant this was replaced within one week of the event and the plant itself was back in
operation, manufacturing cement, within 10days.

Galle to Unawatuna
Travelling south from Galle, the main road remains some distance back from the coastline before
reaching the town of Unawatuna. The village is a popular location for tourists due to its flat sandy
beaches and coral reef that stretches across the mouth of the bay. Generally, the damage observed
consisted of partial collapse and generally moderate levels of structural damage to many of the
homes. As expected heavier damage was experienced by the first row of buildings close to the
shoreline. The building types in Unawatuna generally consist of commercial developments with a
mixture of hotels and restaurants constructed from a combination of masonry and reinforced concrete.
An example of foundation failure to a two storey concrete building on the shore is shown below. This
building was extremely close to the shoreline and was founded on very soft sand. It is believed that
the damage was either due to scouring of the foundation or possibly liquefaction. Further evidence of
liquefaction was witnessed approximately 200m from this location and is shown in Figure 13.

Figure 12: Damage to Hotel structures observed on the beachfront of Unawatuna.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 13 26th December 2004

Figure 13: Evidence of Liquefaction: The same small public utility building photographed from
different angles.

Unawatuna to Habaraduwa
The town of Dalawela is located 3km east of Unawatuna, on the road to Habarduwa, and experienced
the total collapse or severe structural damage to most houses within 300m of the shoreline. The
construction is generally single storey dwellings consisting of either a low-rise RC frame or poor
quality masonry construction. Further along the coast is the town of Habaraduwa that although having
a very flat coastline, has not been hard hit by the tsunami with only some sporadic flood damage
observed in very poorly constructed masonry single storey dwellings. The local coastal bathymetry
obviously has an important role in determining the level of damage experienced by either amplifying
or attenuating the strength of the Tsunami.

Habaraduwa to Weligama
The coastal region between Habaraduwa and Ahangama is sparsely populated. An airbase is located
at Koggala between the two villages, but was observed to have sustained no visible damage. The
buildings in Ahangama are again mainly single storey masonry dwellings. Severe damage is
observed in about 70% of the houses within 200m of the sea. Very little damage is instead observed
in the houses located in the wake of a breakwater along the east side of the city. Minor damage is
also observed in the vernacular houses of Dehawalla where the houses are on land raised 4m above
sea level. Little damage is observed all the way to the entrance to Weligama.

Matara district

Weligama
Weligama is the first main city within Matara district to be reached travelling south along Road 2. At
this location rocky formations are visible offshore but a very flat coastline leads up to the first row of
houses, set back about 30m from the shoreline. Most of these buildings are observed to have
collapsed with significant damage and partial collapse visible to vernacular houses up to about 300m
inland. One, two storey, reinforced concrete frame in the first line of houses consisting of 400mm
square columns and 300mm wide by 500mm deep beams under construction at the time of the
tsunami survived with intact masonry infill panels and only minor damage to the timber shutters facing
the sea.

Weligama to Matara
Travelling from Weligama to Matara extensive damage was observed along the coast between
Mirissa and Kamburugamuwa. In the latter location there is almost total collapse of all vernacular
houses up to about 400m from the shoreline. Moving along the coastal road from Kamburugamuwa to
Matara heavy damage is also observed up to a distance of approximately 50m inland from the sea.
The buildings types consist of low-rise RC frames and superior quality masonry, and typically show
damage consisting of loss of all windows, doors and masonry panels facing the sea and in many
cases extensions, porches and outhouses have been swept away. Matara is the largest town on the
south coast of Sri Lanka, is inhabited by 42,000 people and is a popular tourist destination. The town
does not have a large sea frontage and has generally not been affected by the tsunami. The team

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 14 26th December 2004

was able to run along a stretch of road along the sea where no structural damage is visible to large
masonry houses and schools.

Matara to Gandara via Dondra

Dondra lies on top of a promontory and supports a lighthouse that defines the southernmost point of
th
the Sri Lankan coast. It is known as the “City of the Gods” and is famous for the 7 Century AD shrine
(which has survived the tsunami). The main road runs some distance from the coast due to the hilly
nature of the topography. Any damage to smaller settlements on the coast is not apparent. However,
where the road descends towards Gandara beyond Dondra Head the coast is again flat and
settlements suffered severe structural damage. Fortunately, this area is only sparsely poplutated.

Variation in wave heights and run-up

Observations of the height of inundation and run-up were made by the EEFIT team at several of the
locations visited. Mud lines on buildings, hanging debris and consistent levels of uplifted roof tiles
were used as indicators of the water level. Kyoto University Disaster Prevention Research Institute
th th
(KUDPRI) carried out a similar survey in the Galle Province between the 4 and 6 of January 2005.
The geographical distribution of the water levels measured by KUDPRI is shown in Figure 15 and a
comparison of the measurements obtained by EEFIT and KUDPRI is made in Table 1. A reasonably
good correlation between the observed water levels of the two organisations is seen from the table. It
is interesting to observe that in Galle Port the water level increases with distance from the sea;
contrary to expectation. This may be due to a particular topographical feature or an erroneous
recording of the inundation height. Further study of the values is required before a final conclusion is
reached.

Table 1: Comparison of inundation (I) and run-up (R) measurements made in the Galle Province by
EEFIT and KUDPRI (shaded). (Note: These measurements are presented as being those before tide
correction).
No Location Latitude Longitude Measured Distance Type* Note
(N) (E) Height (m) from
Shoreline
(m)
1 Paiyagala 6°31'10.4'' 79°58'35.3'' 3.64 60 I Mud trace on
side of building
Paiyagala 6°31'18.4'' 79°58'42.2'' 5.95 36 I Traces of the
Station wall on the
second floor
2 Galle Port 6°02'01.4'' 80°14'01.3'' 4.05 300 I Mud trace on
wall of navy
office
Galle Port 6°01'57.8'' 80°13'58.0'' 5.28 20 I Trace inside
the building
Galle Port 6°01'57.8'' 80°13'58.0'' 6.03 190 I Trace on the
outside wall of
the office
* Probable cause of water mark: I = inundation, R = Run-up.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 15 26th December 2004

 ~5
m

~2
m

Figure 14: Example of the water height measurements carried out by EEFIT

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 16 26th December 2004

Figure 15: Inundation height measurements made by KUDPRI in Sri Lanka

General Comments

1. One of the key observations is the variation in the severity of the tsunami wave hazard, as
demonstrated by the large variability of damage along the same coastline. This may be
explained by the effect of different bathymetries on the wave height and speed.
2. Structural damage will reduce as distance from the shore increases. This may or may not be
coupled with a reduction of water level above ground, confirming that pressure from water
flow is the principal cause of structural damage.
3. Across the entire stretch average wave heights of 4-5m were observed. The damage was
caused by the fast flowing large body of water that inundated the land combined with debris
impact and scouring. However very large tsunami like those experienced in parts of Indonesia
and Thailand were not recorded in the Southern coast of Sri Lanka visited by the EEFIT
Team.
4. The quality of the masonry construction that is so common in Sri Lanka may be sufficient for
most of the hazards like wind and mild ground shaking but was clearly not a match for the
force of the tsunami. Reinforced concrete frame structures with infill masonry are now
becoming common even in the construction of detached single-family housing. Although

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 17 26th December 2004

 these are of very poor quality from a seismic resistance point of view, they generally
performed well, only sustaining damage to the infill panels.
5. None of these houses were designed to provide a safe location from the severe and rapidly
rising flood and therefore anyone that did not escape by running as far as possible from the
sea would have been in serious danger.
6. The tsunami highlighted the lack of an adequate warning system and evacuation plan.
People’s ignorance had them walking towards the shore when the sea retreated instead of
heading for higher land. The importance of educating the people and having an emergency
evacuation procedure is essential.

Lifelines

Road A2 the Railway line, road and railway bridges

The railway line in this part of Sri Lanka connects Colombo with the coastal districts of Kalutara, Galle
and Matara and stops in the southernmost town of Sri Lanka (Matara, a town of 42000 people, 160-
km from Colombo). The railway line runs much of the way close to Road 2, sometimes to the
seaward side (between Colombo and Paiyagala (in Kalutara district)) and sometimes to the landward
side (between Paiyagala, Galle and Matara with some exceptions). Road 2 runs for 160 km to Matara
and continues further east until the town of Ambalantota and then turns north ending at Wellawaya on
the southern edge of Badulla District in the Uva Province.

For about one third of the distance between Colombo and Galle the road runs very near the sea and
beaches and at other times is 300-800 metres inland with the coast hidden due to dense development
and palm tree vegetation. The road was damaged in several locations, mostly due to scouring of the
ground below, but had been repaired by the time of the EEFIT field mission. The railway line was
damaged at several locations along the South West coast between Induruwa beach (just south of
Bentota) and Galle. Sri Lankan Railway are well on the way to repairing the track that has been
affected in various sections of the Eastern and Southern provinces. At the time of the field mission
work was being done to prepare the ballast and place the precast reinforced concrete sleepers for the
track. Clearly the railway authority has given great priority to making this lifeline operational as soon
as possible.

Figure 16: Road damage in Galle (photo provided by Dennis Knight, Halcrow-Sri Lanka)

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 18 26th December 2004

Figure 17: Road damage near Hikkaduwa (photo provided by Dennis Knight, Halcrow-Sri Lanka)

Figure 18: Railway damage near Hikkaduwa (Galle District)

The railway and Road 2 cross a number of rivers on the way south, some of these being quite wide
(listed from north to south: Kalu, Bentota and Gin Ganga (rivers)). Most road bridges have small
spans and typically consist of a simply supported concrete slab deck with reinforced concrete or
masonry retaining-wall type abutments (Type 1). These bridges commonly have pipes from the water
supply system embedded in the deck, thus damage to the bridge not only has a consequence on
accessibility and traffic flow, but on the water supply in the affected region. Longer span bridges were
seen to either be steel truss bridges built from steel iron (or possibly wrought iron) riveted construction
(Type 2) or reinforced concrete bridges with slab decks (Type 3), both connected via bearings to RC
piers. Most of the railway bridges are of Type 2. Some of these bridges were built by the British in the
th
early part of the 20 Century. A summary of the bridge damage observed along Road 2 between
Galle and Matara is given in Table 2

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 19 26th December 2004

Scour damage to the abutments, resulting in under reaming of the foundations, was the main cause of
the damage observed. For example the Matara road bridge in Magalle (Upper Galle), an 8m long RC
slab deck bridge, failed when its masonry retaining-wall type abutments were washed away. It
appears that the abutment disintegration was caused by scouring of receding water where the
retained side of the abutment was exposed to the river. A temporary Mabey Johnson Bridge modular
steel bridge (http://www.mabey.co.uk/johnson/) has been installed by the military to maintain the flow
of traffic across this major route. Between Ahangama and Dehawalla a 6.5m bridge consisting of a
400mm deep RC slab deck supported on masonry retaining wall type abutments lost its southbound
lane (furthest from the sea) due to scouring of its abutments. As with the Magalle bridge the scouring
appears to have taken place from receding water.

Figure 19: Picture of the damage to the Matara Road bridge in Magalle (Upper Galle). The deck of
this bridge collapsed after scouring of the southern abutment. Damage was also caused to the water
pipes embedded in the bridge deck (picture provided by Dennis Knight, Halcrow - Sri Lanka).

At Weligama two parallel 80m span bridges had performed well and were undamaged despite
evidence (hanging debris) that they had been overtopped by rising water levels in the river due to the
tsunami. The bridges consisted of a RC slab road bridge (along Road 2) supported at 5m spans by
reinforced concrete piers and a steel truss type railway bridge.

A 15m bridge spanning the Nilwala Ganga (River) between Matara and Dondra was severely
damaged. The crossing consists of two parallel bridge structures supporting the north and
southbound traffic lanes. The RC slab deck of the southbound lane of the bridge (that furthest from
the coast) failed due to the collapse of the retaining wall type abutments supporting it. However, the
northbound lane structure remained intact. The latter is observed to have moment connections
between the RC slab deck and the two supporting 1.5m diameter RC column piers.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 20 26th December 2004

Figure 20: Picture of two parallel bridges (of Types 2 and 3) at Weligama that performed well. Note
the presence of a fishing net suspended from the base of the road bridge deck (left), indicating that
water probably overtopped the bridge during the tsunami.

Figure 21: Picture of the damage to the southbound lane of the bridge spanning Polwata Ganga. The
deck of this bridge failed after scouring of the abutments and has since been removed. Temporary
pipes have been installed to restore water supply.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 21 26th December 2004

Table 2: Survey of bridges between Galle and Dondra
Location Latitude (N) Longitude (E) Span (m) Type Damage State
Galle Town 6° 02' 25.6'' 80°12' 01.6'' 12 Type 1 Slight displacement of
deck, but is fully functional.
Galle Town 6° 01' 58.7'' 80°12' 51.6'' 8 Type 1 Undamaged
Galle (Mahagalle) 6° 02' 08.0'' 80° 13' 53.0'' 8 Type 1 Collapsed due to
abutments being scoured
away
6° 01' 41.5'' 80° 14' 35.9'' 10 Type 1 Some parapet damage
5° 59' 39.4'' 80° 17' 46.6'' 7 Type 2 Railway bridge abutments
are under repair
5° 59' 39.4'' 80° 17' 46.6'' 7 Type 1 Undamaged
5° 58' 59.2'' 80° 20' 07.1'' 15 Type 3 Undamaged (note
breakwaters are present
just offshore)
Between 5° 58' 10.8'' 80° 22' 09.7'' 6.5 Type 1 Collapsed southbound
Ahangama and lane due to scouring of the
Dehawalla abutments
5° 57' 56.0'' 80° 22' 49.6'' 20 Type 2 Western abutment has
been washed away and
was being repaired with
granite rock
5° 57' 56.0'' 80° 22' 49.6'' 20 Type 3 Minor parapet damage
Ahangama 5° 57' 54.8'' 80° 23' 26.7'' 7 Type 1 Undamaged
5° 57' 40.8'' 80° 25' 10.9'' 10 Type 1 Undamaged
Weligama 5° 57' 57.4'' 80°27' 19.6'' 80 Type 3 Undamaged
Weligama 5° 57' 57.4'' 80°27' 19.6'' 80 Type 2 Undamaged
5° 57' 52.0'' 80°27' 21.3'' 8 Type 1 Undamaged
5° 56' 43.5'' 80°27' 34.9'' 10 Type 1 Undamaged
Kamburugamuwa 5° 56' 19.0'' 80°29' 06.7'' 3 Type 1 Fallen parapets
Matara Town 5° 56' 45.9'' 80°32' 55.8'' 30 Type 3 Undamaged
Between Matara 5° 55' 52.9'' 80°34' 57.8'' 15 Type 1 Failure of southbound lane
and Dondra bridge deck

Human Casualties

Sri Lanka is divided into 9 provinces: Northern, North-Central, North-Western, Central, Eastern,
Western, Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern. Three of the nine provinces were seriously affected by
the tsunami (Northern, Eastern, Southern) whilst the others were almost totally unaffected except the
Western Province, which was moderately affected.
th
The total death toll as reported by the Centre for National Operations (CNO) on the 25 of January
2005 is 30,612 people. This number does not include the 5,469 people reported to be missing. The
total number of people confirmed dead and missing is therefore 36,801 and will probably increase
when the number of people missing in the Ampara district is announced.

The number of injured people at a national level is 14,728 (two of the worst affected districts,
Trincomalee and Hambanthota did not report the number of injured). Therefore the total human
casualties are at least 50,003 people.

A first comment that can be made is that for every injury there are about 2.1 fatalities. This fact
suggests that the lethality of the tsunami was high, meaning that if people were caught by the rapidly
moving waves they had a low chance of survival.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 22 26th December 2004

Fatality Rates by Province
An analysis was made using the CNO fatality data to investigate the severity of the event in several
parts of the country that may have been affected differently by the waves, or that may have different
building or coastal topography characteristics.

The fatality and injury rates can be calculated if we have a reasonably good estimate of the population
near the coast. This problem was addressed by Center for International Earth Science Information
Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University in a web based report (Source:
http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu/tsunami2004.html), where the population in all the affected provinces
and districts was estimated at 1-km and 2-km from the coast.

Table 3 below summarises the fatality and injury rate assuming that all the people that were killed or
injured were living within 1-km from the coast. Clearly this does not allow for movements of people
for work etc. but as the event occurred on a Sunday morning, the above assumption is thought to be
reasonably accurate.

Table 3: Fatalities in Sri Lanka by province

Province Fatalities Missing Injured Population % of Fatalities
within 1- regional and
km from population Missing to
coast at 1km 1-km from
coast
population
Eastern 14,354 1,418 2,495 109,366 7.6% 14.4%
Northern 6,200 2,510 4,907 209,762 21.6% 4.2%
Southern 10,058 1,491 7,326 57,789 2.4% 20.0%
Total 30,612 5,419 14,728 376,917 7.8% 9.6%

Relief and Reconstruction

The team visited the affected areas a month after the event. Relief operations were visible along the
whole length of the coast. A large number of foreign aid agencies had a presence in the area such as
from the UK and Italy as well as the US Army. Several camps with tents set up for the displaced
persons were seen and visited. In the town of Galle, clean-up was complete and the town seemed to
be recovering despite the heavy damage experienced in its port side.

At the time of the visit the focus of the disaster management appeared to be moving away from the
immediate relief and beginning to address the need for reconstruction. An ongoing debate was taking
place in the English printed national papers regarding the proposal from the Sri Lankan government to
prohibit the reconstruction of dwellings near the shore. In some severely damaged areas, clearing of
collapsed buildings had not taken place but it was common to see piles of recovered bricks neatly
stacked amongst the rubble. In other areas, organised clearing was taken place, both by mechanical
and manual means. This was generally carried out under the auspices of foreign agencies. No
systematic reconstruction was seen. In less affected areas, house owners were carrying out repair
and reconstruction of collapsed buildings, sometimes from the remaining foundations of the previous
building.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 23 26th December 2004

THAILAND

The EEFIT team visited the following areas in Thailand: Phuket island (all of the affected coasts on
the west of the island), Phi Phi Don island (both north and south beaches) and the resorts north of
Khao Lak National Park in the Phang Nga province (about 70 km north of the Sarasin bridge that
connects Phuket to the mainland). In this report we will discuss the distribution of damage in the area
visited, describe the buildings and lifeline infrastructure, discuss the effects on coastal inhabitants, but
refrain from estimating the potential loading on structures due to different wave velocities, heights and
densities. More detailed analysis will follow in the full scale EEFIT report to be published in the next
few months.

Building typology in the survey region

The following is a description of the buildings in the region visited by the EEFIT team. The
observations described below are based on the inspection of many damaged or buildings under
construction.

Low-rise Reinforced Concrete (RC)

These buildings are non-seismically designed cast-in-situ RC frames of up to 2 (sometimes 3) storeys
in height. They can be residential or commercial in occupancy, and have varying standards of
construction depending on their ownership. They range from 1-2 storey homes or villas to hotel beach
bungalows. The quality of some of the bungalows and villas is visibly better than that of the small
homes or businesses built in the numerous towns and resorts visited. These buildings typically
constructed on a 3m to 4m grid pattern and usually have 400 x 200 beams with 6 x 16mm deformed
bars and shear reinforcement consisting of 6mm round bars at 150 centres. Columns typically have
200mm square cross-sections, which are reinforced usually with four round low-yield bars of 12 or 16
mm diameter although sometimes deformed bars were used. Ties were typically 6mm diameter
round bars with 90° hooks at 150 centres.

In several locations significant structural damaged had occurred due to poor detailing of the column-
beam joints. These details had insufficient anchorage of the reinforcement whichled to the failure of
the connection and often total or partial collapse of the structure. A typical example of these details
can be seen in Figure 22

The frames are typically infilled with 60mm masonry made of clay bricks or concrete blocks on cement
mortar and plastered with cement veneer although for better quality construction cavity construction is
often used. Site inspection of the concrete suggests that badly graded aggregates are used in the
concrete mix, of probable sea or river provenance. The inspection also found that in the damaged
structures often the steel bars were heavily corroded perhaps due to a combination of wet aggregates
and the proximity of the affected buildings to the sea. Foundations commonly consisted of pad
footings (500mm square dimensions) or 400mm square reinforced concrete cast in situ piles. The
roofs are commonly pitched with either timber or light-metal (cold formed steel) trusses covered by
clay tiles or metal sheeting. The roof design varies from a simple four-way pitch to more intricate Thai
architectural styles.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 24 26th December 2004

Figure 22: Typical example of poor connection detail. The beam reinforcement is insufficiently
anchored to the column reinforcement, leading to a lack of integrity of the connection and partial
collapse of the structure.
Mid-rise Reinforced Concrete (RC) Non-residential and Hotel Buildings
Most resorts and individual hotels visited belonged to this category. In Phuket town (not affected by
the tsunami) there are also numerous such buildings for residential, commercial and public use.
These buildings are of superior construction standard, having been designed and supervised by
engineers. Their seismic resistance should be the subject of further investigation. They are usually 3
to 4 storeys high (sometimes higher) and have all the characteristics of hotel structures, i.e. elongated
forms, a large proportion of openings, large lobby areas on the ground floor, wide balconies, verandas
and corridors. Their roofs are flat slab, steel trusses or less frequently timber trusses. The walls in the
longitudinal and transverse directions are formed by cast-in-situ unreinforced masonry panels made
from clay bricks or concrete blocks on cement mortar. Column and beam dimensions are larger than
those of the previous class due to the larger loads involved in their design. On the whole these
structures performed remarkably well even in locations where the tsunami had reached or even
exceeded the third floor of the buildings (e.g. in the Khao Lak region). Typical member sizes of the
larger resorts were 350 x square columns with 6 x 16 diameter deformed bars and beams of 600 x
300. Reinforcement in these beams were typically 5 x 24mm diameter deformed bars for bottom
reinforcement and 4 x 24mm diameter bars for top reinforcement. Shear reinforcement consisted of 2
legs of 6 diameter bars @150 centres. Some failures of these larger resorts could also be attributed
on poor detailing of beam to column connections

Wood frame and bamboo buildings

Very few such buildings survived the wrath of the tsunami especially when the wave heights
exceeded 3 metres. The main characteristics of these structures are their light weight and their large
proportion of openings (in line with the tropical climate of the region). Traditional Thai architecture
contains numerous types of such buildings, but their contribution to the general construction activity of
recent decades has decreased. They can be found near waterways supported on stilts, near the sea
with some protection from wetness on the lower part of the wooden columns, or generally on dry land,
near forests etc. The roofs of these buildings are typically either thatched or tiled.

Brief damage observations

The EEFIT team visited all the affected areas along the western coast of Phuket island, Phi Phi Don
Island and much of the affected coastal zone north of Khao Lak national park in the Phang Nga
province. Contrary to popular perception Phuket Island, Thailand’s most popular tourist resort, has not
been devastated. According to data provided by the Thai Tourism Authority only 17% of the hotels in
Phuket have been affected with only 10.6% of the deaths and missing persons occurring on this
island (see the section on human casualties below). Almost all of the affected hotels had damage to
their ground floors, especially to fittings and contents. These will take between 1 and 4 months to re-
open. Therefore, in terms of directly affected room capacity, Phuket has temporarily lost less than 8%

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 25 26th December 2004

of its total capacity of 31,962 rooms in 570 hotels. The worst affected area by the tsunami was the
stretch of coast north of Phuket between the north side of Khao Lak national park and the town of
Takua Pa (Phang Na province). Within this area 97 of the 143 hotels sustained damage and almost
80% of the 5,533 room capacity has been permanently lost. This is reflected in the high casualty
figures with 70.7% of the life loss and missing persons occurring in this region. The recovery of
repairable resorts in the area is expected to take up to one year. In addition, the world-renowned
resort of Phi Phi Don Island (part of the Krabi province) has been largely devastated. In the following
sections the extent of damage, run-up and inundation observed by the EEFIT team and reported in
publicly available sources is summarised. Other parts of Thailand such as the Krabi province and to
lesser extent Ranong, Trang and Satun provinces were also affected by the tsunami. However, as it
was not possible to visit these areas due to time restrictions, damage in these areas is not reported
here.

Southern Phuket Island – Koh Sirey to Rawai Beach

Koh Sirey is a small island just offshore of Phuket, to the east of Phuket town. The channel that
separates the two islands is used as a main fishing port and is a busy naval route for boats travelling
to the islands in the east. A bridge connects the island with Phuket town. A huge swell roared up the
channel dragging dozens of large and small fishing boats off their moorings and hurling them against
th
the bridge. The port was fully functional on the January 29 when the EEFIT team used its facilities
for travelling to Koh Phi Phi Don. On Koh Sirey itself, the village called Sea Gypsy located on the
southernmost shore was hit hard by the tsunami with many homes destroyed but thankfully no loss of
life. A couple of small hotels were also affected. Phuket town was totally unaffected. There are no
reports of damage in Makham Bay (also called Phuket Bay) to the south of Phuket town. Chalong Bay
(further south) was mildly affected with damage incurred to an old and rickety jetty (the main concrete
pier was left intact) and a couple of beach front bungalow resorts. Two small hotels were affected on
Koh Lon Island offshore of Chalong bay and two more on the remote island of Racha Yai to the south.
Further south, Rawai beach sustained more extensive damage along its beach front wall. Several
boats were destroyed, corals were washed ashore and some loss of life occurred in Mu Ban Chao Le
(another Sea Gypsy Village where the Urak Lawoi people live). The Japanese survey team from the
Kyoto University Disaster Prevention Research Institute measured run-up in 3 locations at Chalong
and Rawai to be around 2.5 meters.

Western Phuket Island – Nai Harn beach to Karon beach

Nai Harn beach is the first resort in the hardest hit western part of Koh Phuket. The waves there
carried a lot of debris onto the beach but did not cause significant inundation beyond the coastal road.
Damage occurred to the sea front restaurants, to some buildings within a couple of major hotels and
to several other bungalow guest houses. Just north of Nai Harn there is a small bay called Yanui
beach, where 3 hotels suffered heavy damage and two total losses. The inundation at Yanui reached
several hundreds of metres inland. North of Yanui is the Kata Beach resort, the first major resort on
the western shores of Phuket with a 3,061 room capacity in 61 hotels and guest houses. Damage to
the sea front shops and restaurants at the south and north end of this 3-km beach resort was
significant, but was mainly restricted to non-structural components. Damage also occurred in the
southern part of Kata, Kata Noi. The central part of the northern side is occupied by the 300-room
Club Mediteranee that was inundated following the tsunami and is still undergoing final repairs. Other
beach front hotels along Kata Beach sustained water damage to their ground floor facilities. However,
the facilities behind the first row of buildings were not seriously affected and none was closed for
more than a few weeks. Other damage included some minor damage to sea walls as shown in Figure
24. The Japanese survey team from the Kyoto University Disaster Prevention Research Institute
measured the run-up in Kata to be 2.5 meters, this was confirmed by the EEFIT team. North of Kata
Beach is the resort of Karon, which stretches along a 5km crescent shaped beach. Karon Beach has
a capacity of 5,497 rooms in 77 hotels and guest houses (17.2% of Phuket’s hotel capacity). On the
northern side most of the big hotels are set back from the beach front, lie on higher ground and thus
were unaffected. A sloping wide swath of grass separates the beach from the coastal road and the
hotels beyond. This is thought to have helped Karon beach to escape the levels of damage seen in
other resorts. However, the Golden Sand Inn had 50 seaward facing bungalows that were flooded by
the rushing waters and the Phuket Island View Hotel also had 20 similarly damaged bungalows. Both
these hotels were operational within a month of the tsunami. Only two small hotels with a total of 44
rooms remain closed in Karon.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 26 26th December 2004

Figure 23: Minor damage to Local Shop and Club Mediteranee Resort at Kata Beach. Damage
mainly restricted to ground floor and was generally not structural in nature.

Figure 24: Minor seawall damage at Kata Beach

Western Phuket Island – Ban Trai Trang and Patong beach to Kalim beach
North of Karon beach there is a promontory at the area called Ban Trai Trang beach. The 415-room
Merlin Beach resort is located there and had extensive damage to the southern part of the building
where 83 ground floor rooms were flooded despite the fact that the hotel was located at least 150
st
metres from the sea. Hotel managers reported to the team that they planned to re-open on April 1 .
Further north is Patong, Phuket’s largest resort with a capacity of 9,085 rooms in 193 hotels and
guest houses (28.4% of Phuket’s hotel capacity). Damage in Patong beach was significant with 60
facilities being flooded (damaged facilities ratio 31%) containing 3552 rooms (39% of the room
capacity out of action). However, damage in all of these facilities is restricted to the ground level
rooms thus the estimated ratio of flooded rooms would be in the 10-15% range. Loss of life in Patong
was significant. A coastal road runs across the whole length of the 4-km crescent shape beach. In
the southern and northern part of the beach all facilities are situated beyond the coastal road, but in a
750 metre stretch, on the northern side, 5 hotels (with more than 200 room total capacity) and many
shops are situated on the seaward side of the road and took the full power of the incoming waves. All
along the Patong coastal road, however, not a single property escaped the wrath of the waves. All
suffered varying levels of damage, predominantly to the ground floor fittings and contents. One month

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 27 26th December 2004

after the event, clean-up operations were complete and repairs well under way in most coastal
properties, tourism has reinitiated but it will be at least 3-4 months before the Patong coastal area
heals its scars. The EEFIT team made a detailed survey of the southern half of Patong beach and
took measurements of run-up and distance from coast in 10 locations, where the wave height ranged
from 2.2 to 6.4 metres. The Japanese KUDPRI team measured run-up in Patong beach at around 5
metres. Watermark measurements were also taken by EEFIT along Kesbab Soi, a road running
perpendicular to the sea, in order to establish the decrease in water height with distance from the
shore. The water level was seen to reduce from to from almost 3m at 30m from the shore to 1.48m
and 0.63m at 126m and 200m from the shoreline, respectively. At the Beach Hotel Resort Horizon
situated 86m inland, a water level of 1.2m above ground was measured in the hotel complex. This
seems to imply that the level of water and consequent damage is not only related to the distance from
shore but also to the number of obstacles in the water’s path, i.e. a higher level of water was recorded
along the road (obstacle free) than at the hotel (situated behind a series of buildings) at the same
distance from the shore. This suggests that buildings on the seafront act as a breakwater for
subsequent buildings.

Kalim beach and village are located immediately north of Patong. All the hotels here lie on a hill side
that rises sharply beyond the coastal road and were not affected by the tsunami. Kalim village is near
the sea and sustained moderate levels of damage to the masonry houses and to a primary school. In
the latter, the infill panels of the classroom nearest to the coastal road were destroyed and the flimsy
150mm square columns were left exposed, damaged but still standing. Some low-rise RC buildings
(including the offices of two major real estate agents) on the sea side of the coastal road suffered
heavy damage to the infill panels and are now under repair.

Western Phuket Island – Kamala Beach to Sarasin Bridge

Kamala Beach was the location most seriously affected by the tsunami in Phuket and experienced
significant life loss. Kamala is about 10-km north of Patong and is one of the smaller resorts with 27
hotels and guest houses with total capacity of 1,140 rooms. One month after the event, 23 hotels with
623 rooms were closed (54.5% of the room capacity). Kamala village is more than 1-km inland and
was not affected. The EEFIT team made a detailed survey of most of Kamala beach and took
measurements of run-up and distance from coast in 5 locations, where the wave height ranged
between 3.85 and 5.72 metres. The Japanese KUDPRI team measured run-up in Kamala beach at
just over 5 metres. North of Kamala beach is Surin beach that extraordinarily did not experience
serious damage. Further north is the 6-km long Bang Tao beach, an exclusive resort with 10 large
hotels and 5 smaller inns and guest houses with total capacity of 1,854 rooms. One month after the
event, 2 hotels and 3 guest house with 329 rooms were closed (17.7% of the room capacity). Most of
the damage in Bang Tao occurred on the southern part of the beach where the facilities and a number
of beach front houses and shops were located very close to shoreline. According to local eye
witnesses the surge there was at least two metres high and the waters did not withdraw for well over
an hour. There is significant evidence of scouring alongside the road that runs 200 meters inland with
large pieces of the tarmac having been ripped up and flung further inland. This would seem to indicate
that the wave was travelling at a very high velocity at this location. Measurements made by the EEFIT
team in 3 locations showed run-up of 2.1 to 5.4 metres (see below for details). The Japanese
KUDPRI team took one measurement of run-up in Bang Tao at just under 5 metres. The lively village
of Bang Tao is situated 400 metres inland and was not seriously affected. The EEFIT team visited the
th
area on January 30 and one of the closed hotels (Best Western Bang Tao Beach & Spa with 240
rooms) was well on the way to complete recovery. Another beach front hotel had damage to the
ground floor rooms and had not yet started any significant repair works. 6 hotels of worldwide fame
are situated in the central part of Bang Tao beach. These include the Banyan Tree, Laguna Beach,
Rydges Amora Beach, which were visited by the EEFIT team. Damage to these exclusive hotels was
limited to around 60 out of 1430 rooms (statistics refer to all 6 hotels) because their facilities were set
back from the beach. They were fully operational at the time of the visit.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 28 26th December 2004

Figure 25: Erosion of the beach at Kamala and consequent foundation failure of houses along the
beach.

Figure 26: House near Kamala beach exhibiting its footings due to loss of sand after the tsunami

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 29 26th December 2004

Figure 27: Foundation failure of bungalows on Bang Tao beach front.

Western Phuket Island – Layan beach to Sarasin bridges

Layan beach is situated north of Bang Tao. Only one hotel exists in this location and it has not been
damaged by the tsunami. The inundation in Layan reached 400 metres inland but fortunately no
habitation was located within the inundated zone. North of Layan is Nai Thon beach with 2 medium-
sized hotels and 6 smaller facilities. Damage here was limited and none of the facilities has closed.
Nai Yang beach lies further north of Nai Thon. It has 2 big hotels and 10 smaller facilities with a total
of 466 rooms, of which only 14 are not in operation. However, the numerous shops, restaurants and
bars close to this popular beach have been decimated due to their proximity to the sea and the
lightweight nature of the structures. Not far from Nai Yang is the Phuket International Airport that
experienced flooding on its runway because the protective wall was breached. The airport was fully
operational in less than 15 hours from the event. The Japanese KUDPRI team took one measurement
of run-up in Nai Yang at just under 5 metres. North of Nai Yang there is a 9-km long beach leading up
to the causeway that separates Phuket Island from the mainland. There are no facilities or villages in
this stretch of coast and thus not much is known about the strength of the tsunami there. The
causeway is spanned by two bridges (the Sarasin bridges), one old and one new, the first being used
for southbound traffic and the latter for northbound traffic. The bridges lie 1.8 km inland from the
Andaman Sea. Both bridges were inspected by the EEFIT team and showed no visible signs of
damage to their footings and abutments. Although the older bridge (that has a lower deck height) had
been closed for inspection in the days following the earthquake, it was open at the time of our
investigation. Some slight damage, in the form of displaced boulders of the retaining walls of the
structure, was observed at the northern side of the latter bridge, and a retaining wall failure was seen
along the northern river bank on the leeside of the bridge. Eye-witnesses report seeing the water
overtop the northern old bridge abutment.

Phang Nga Province - Khao Lak Beach to Bangsak Beach

Phang Nga province can be accessed from Phuket Island via the Sarasin bridges. Inland from the
bridges there is a small fishing village at the north shore of the causeway that has not been affected
by the tsunami. The Khao Lak area is 70-km north of the causeway on highway route 4. Up to Khao
Lak there is limited coastal population. The area of Thai Muang beach about half way to Khao Lak
was not investigated by EEFIT. The region inland is mountainous, and hence the name Khao
meaning mountain in the Thai language. The so-called “Khao Lak tourist region” is located on a
coastal stretch of 15-20 km and contains several beaches listed here according to their location from
South to North: Khao Lak, Nang Thong, Bang Niang, Khuk Khak, Laem Pakarang, Pakweeb and
Bangsak. This region has grown to become a booming tourist destination in the last 5 years, and the
capacity according to data provided by the Tourism Authority of Thailand is 5,533 rooms in 143
facilities. Some of the resorts devastated by the tsunami had opened for business just a few months
prior to the event.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 30 26th December 2004

Figure 28: Damage to the Laguna Hotel in Khao Lak, situated 100m from the seafront. The displaced
roof tiles indicate a water height of 14m above sea level.

For reasons yet to be investigated the height of the waves in this stretch of coast was for the most
part in excess of 8 metres and their effect devastating. Timber frame structures near the shore were
destroyed. Many of the hotel structures were sited on the beach near the shoreline and took the full
brunt of the waves. Others were sited more than 100 meters inland but still suffered extreme levels of
damage due to the height and speed of the waves. Many of the hotels were of the bungalow type,
containing a number of single storey detached houses scattered across their land. This type of resort
suffered the most damage. A number of large medium-rise hotel structures have survived relatively
well despite the height of the waves. However, in the locations with maximum run-up, the damage to
fittings and contents, up to the third floor of these buildings, is total. Although some hotels are still
standing seemingly ready for repair, the region was still very much a waste land at the time of the
EEFIT field investigation. Some hotels need to be demolished while others with more fortunate siting
or with structural frames that survived the wave impact may be able to recover in the future.

Figure 29: Damage to the infill parallels (parallel to the seafront) of a hotel in Khao Lak situated at
120m from the seafront.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 31 26th December 2004

Figure 30: Damage on either side of the same building. The left hand picture shows this side of the
structure has suffered a soft storey failure, while the right hand picture shows the other side of the
structure has reasonable structural integrity (ignoring the roof and windows)

Wave height
7.9m inside
building

Figure 31: Khao Lak Seaview Resort. Run-up height was established at this location by measuring
inside this building. Inundation occurred in all three storeys. This building was approximately 150m
from the beach and approximately 1m above the sea level. There was only small ‘bar’ and pool type
structures between this building and the ocean (all of which had been destroyed). Structural damage
to this building was limited to windows and a few masonry panels.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 32 26th December 2004

Figure 32: Picture of a patrol boat left stranded 1.2km inland at Khao Lak.

It must be noted that from the point of view of occupant safety, even those structures that fared better
would have provided limited safety to occupants on the first two floors and in some cases even
occupants on the third floor would be at serious risk since their rooms seemed to have been flooded
up to ceiling level. From inspection of the casualty and damage statistics it is evident that at least
3,000 tourists lost their lives in this stretch of coast. Measurements by the EEFIT team in 3 locations
showed run-ups of 6 to 14.5 metres (see below for details). The Japanese KUDPRI team took many
measurements in the same region that ranged between 6 and 10.5 metres.

Resorts at this beach are typical of Phuket with small buildings being the typical 200mm square
columns with 4 x 16mm deformed bars and 200mm wide by 400mm deep beams with 6 x 16mm
deformed bars. Building grids are of the order of 3 – 4 m. Seaward walls consist of low masonry
walls with full width windows. Other walls are constructed of 60 masonry infill panels, although some
are cavity.

Larger structures typically have 350 square columns with beams of 600 x 300. Beam main
reinforcement consists of 5 x 24 diameter deformed bars in the bottom of the beam and 4 x 24
diameter top bars. Shear reinforcement consists of 2 legs of 6mm round bars @150.

Significant structural damage has occurred to resort structures. Many 'engineered' structures have
suffered irreparable damage and in some cases partial or complete collapse. Generally 2 storey
small structures have suffered either collapse or irreparable structural damage. Masonry infill walls
perpendicular to the beach can significantly increase resistance to tsunami as shown by Figure 30. In
this building, one side of the building resisted the tsunami by frame action, while on the other side of
the structure masonry infill panels were present. The infilled side of this building shows reasonable
resistance, while the other side formed a soft storey mechanism. It should be noted at this stage that
masonry infill panels in walls perpendicular to the beach can collapse. It is believed that this collapse
results from the seaward wall collapsing first, allowing the room to pressurize, and this combined with
the likely low external pressure on the outside of side walls leads to side walls collapsing outwards.
Usually this is limited to the first seaward bay on the outside of the building.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 33 26th December 2004

Figure 33: Satellite pictures of southern Khao Lak before and after the tsunami (IKONOS Satellite:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov). On the ground pictures of the beach erosion observed at the
location indicated by the arrows are shown on the left. Surviving water towers observed at this
location are also shown. This type of structure generally performed very well.

Phi Phi Don Island

The low-lying area in the narrow strip of land between Ton Sai bay in the south and Loh Dalam bay in
the north in this world renowned resort was devastated by the tsunami. This strip of land is barely 100
metres wide at its narrowest and increases to about 1-km at the foot of the cliffs to the east and west.
It links two limestone cliffs rising steeply from the sea that form the rest of this butterfly-shaped island.
The karstic cliffs are the remnants of ancient coral reefs, a geo-morphological feature common in the
Andaman Sea and other parts of Southeast Asia (e.g. Ha Long bay in Vietnam). The waves hit the
land strip from both bays, first from the south and few minutes later from the north. This strip of land
th
only twenty years ago was a pristine palm forest but on December 26 it was already densely
developed with hotels, bungalows, inns, guest houses and other facilities to service the numerous
tourists. The island had 34 facilities with 1,392 rooms, all of which suffered some damage and were
closed. Hotels on higher ground on the eastern cliff escaped any damage and are fully operational.
The approach to the car-free island by visitors is made from a pier at the south (Ton Sai bay). In Ton
Sai the damage is more extensive in the western side, where around 10 detached bungalow buildings
tilted heavily, the ones at the sea front being almost completely underwater. These buildings had
th
been removed by the time the EEFIT team visited the island, on January 29 . On the eastern side of
Ton Sai bay buildings are still standing including a row of 8 newly built reinforced concrete houses on
stilts. However, damage to fittings and contents is comprehensive to all sea front shops and hardly
any recovery had been made by the time of the investigation. The situation is much worse on the
north side (Loh Dalam) where an area of extensive devastation was seen as we walked between the
two beaches. One of the few structures still standing in this area was the local power station that was

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 34 26th December 2004

an engineered reinforced concrete structure. To the west around the Phi Phi Cabana hotel damage
was somewhat less severe, probably due to the nature of the hotels (i.e. 3-4 storey engineered
reinforced concrete structures). Many of the 1,423 dead and missing reported for the Krabi province
(see section on human casualties below) occurred in Koh Phi Phi where a press report released on
th
the 30 of December stated the recovery of 218 bodies. The EEFIT team took measurements in four
locations that showed run-up of 2.5 to 6.9 metres (see below for details).

Tong Sai Bay 30/12/04

Figure 34: Aerial view of Phi Phi Island (top left). The arrows indicate how the tsunami was refracted
around the western granite cliff and hit Tong Sai bay from both the North and South directions. In the
bottom left is an aerial picture of Tong Sai Bay taken four days after the tsunami. On the right are two
pictures of damage in Tong Sai Bay taken by the EEFIT Team.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 35 26th December 2004

Figure 35: Stilted reinforced concrete frames on Phi Phi Island

Figure 36 Measuring of run-up heights at Phi Phi Island

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 36 26th December 2004

 Figure 37: Major damage to resort . The structure is located about 50m from the north beach and
has extensive damage to lower storey windows and masonry walls. Debris damage to the roof is also
visible.

Smokestacks

Figure 38 Local Power Station and Communications Building on Phi Phi Island. Smokestack from
diesel generators are indicated. Much of the building suffered serious damage and was the site of
greatest wave height.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 37 26th December 2004

Figure 39 Debris Damage at Phi Phi Island

Figure 40: Tourist resort on Phi Phi Island. Although this resort was close to the beach, it was at the
western end and therefore probably more sheltered. Structural damage restricted to windows on the
lower two storeys and a few masonry panels on the ground floor.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 38 26th December 2004

Figure 41: Sea wall at Phi Phi

Summary Statistics of Hotel Infrastructure and Damage

The Tourism Authority of Thailand kindly released the following summary Table of data concerning
the hotel capacity in the 3 worst-affected provinces of Thailand. They have also released to us a
complete list of the affected and unaffected hotels in the 3 provinces along with their contact details
for further investigation. The worst affected province is seen to be Phang Nga, which has 80% of its
capacity affected by the tsunami, whilst Phuket and Krabi were affected to a much lesser degree with
17% of their facilities damaged.

Table 4: Statistics of Hotel Damage in Thailand

Province No. of % of No. of % of No. of No. of Damaged
Operational Operational Operational Operational Hotels Rooms Hotels
Hotels Hotels Rooms Rooms before before
Tsunami Tsunami
Phuket 472 82.4% 26,762 83.3% 573 32,585 101
Phang Nga 46 32.2% 1,098 19.8% 143 5,533 97
Krabi 292 83.2% 9,042 77.2% 351 11,709 59
Total 810 75.9% 36,902 74.1% 1,067 49,827 257
Source: Tourism Authority of Thailand, Phuket Office, updated as of January 27, 2005.

Variation in wave heights and run-up

Observations of the height of inundation and run-up were made by the EEFIT team at several of the
locations along the Thai coast between Khao Lak and Kata Beach and on Phi Phi Island. Mud lines
on buildings, hanging debris and consistent levels of uplifted roof tiles were used as indications of the
water level. Kyoto University Disaster Prevention Research Institute (KUDPRI) carried out a similar
st rd
survey in Khao Lak, Phuket and Koh Phi Phi between the 31 December 2004 and 3 of January
2005. The geographical distribution of the water levels measured by KUDPRI is shown in Figure 42
and a comparison of the measurements obtained by EEFIT and KUDPRI is made in Table 5. A
reasonable correlation in the water level measurements is achieved. The inundation levels measured
in Thailand are significantly larger than those observed in Sri Lanka. Further analysis of the data is
required in order to draw conclusions regarding the rise in water level with distance inland observed in
certain locations.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 39 26th December 2004

Table 5: Comparison of inundation (I) and run-up (R) measurements made in Khao Lak, Phuket and
Koh Phi Phi by EEFIT and KUDPRI (shaded). (Note: These measurements are presented as being
those before tide correction).
No Location Latitude (N) Longitude (E) Measured Shoreline Type* Note
Height (m) Distance (m)
1 Kamala Beach 7°57'02.9'' 98°16'51.1'' 5.07 30 I Mud trace inside
nd
2 storey of
resort building
Kamala Beach 7°57’14.1” 98°16’56.2” 3.85 167 I Trace on side of
house
Kamala Beach 7°56’83.3” 98°16’96.1” 5.12 Not stated I Traces of the
wall on the
second floor
Kamala Beach 7°56’79.1” 98°16’91.9” 5.72 Not stated I Trace on wall
Kamala Beach 7°56’79.1” 98°16’91.9” 4.86 Not stated I Trace on wall
2 Khao Lak 8°38'14.1'' 98°14'48.1'' 14.50 50 I All roof tiles
(Laguna Hotel) displaced below
this level
Khao Lak 8°38'11.1'' 98°14'42.6'' 6 10 I All roof tiles
(Simijiana displaced below
Beach and Spa this level
Resort)
Khao Lak 8°38'30.4'' 98°14'45.5'' 8.8 33 Water mark
(Nang Thong measured inside
Bay Resort) hotel
Khao Lak 8°38’22.5” 98°15’04.6” 9.90 132.49 I Height of washed
roof tiles
Khao Lak 8°38’21.6” 98°15’15.0” 10.70 286.09 I Edge of eaves of
damaged cottage
3 Phi Phi 7°44’13.2” 98°46’12.9” 3.2 1 I Watermark on
front of house
Phi Phi 7°44’16.7” 98°46’18.3” 2.5 72 I Mud trace on
side of house
Phi Phi (North 7°44’33.4” 98°46.621' 6.89 242.16 I Trace on wall of
Coast) house
nd
Phi Phi (South 7°44’89.8” 98°46’32.3” 5.32 62.63 I 2 floor of hotel
Coast)
4 Patong Beach 7°53’02.7” 98°17’10.4” 4 30 I Trace on wall
(Sea View
Hotel)
Patong Beach 7°53’04.1” 98°17’15.1” 5 30 I Trace on wall
(Avantika Hotel)
Patong Beach 7°53’05.8” 98°17’19.4” 4.5 30 I Trace on wall
(Luxury Sea
View Rooms
and Café’)
Patong Beach 7°53’08.5” 98°17’22.9” 2.9 60 I Mud trace on
(Sea Pearl interior wall
Beach Hotel)
Patong Beach 7°53’16.5” 98°17’32.3” 2.2 30 I Mud trace on
(Beach Hotel wall
Resort Horizon)
Patong Beach 7°53’02.9” 98°17’52.2” 6.39 Not stated I Trace on wall
Patong Beach 7°53’24.5” 98°17’74.3” 5.85-6.41 Not stated I 4 traces on wall
Patong Beach 7°53’63.2” 98°17’92.2” 5.83 Not stated I Trace on wall
Patong Beach 7°53’53.2” 98°17’87.9” 5.24 Not stated I
Patong Beach 7°54’22.6” 98°18’03.3” 4.91 Not stated I Trace on wall
5 Bang Thao 7°58’57.2” 98°16’48.5” 2.1 135 I Trace on wall

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 40 26th December 2004

 Beach (South)
Bang Thao 7°58’57.2” 98°16’48.5” 2.9 110 I Trace on wall
Beach (South)
Bang Thao 8°00’11.7” 98°17’76.2” 4.36-5.36 Not stated I 5 readings from
Beach wall and tree
traces
* Probable cause of water mark: I = inundation, R = Run-up.

Figure 42: Inundation height measurements made by KUDPRI in Thailand

Human Casualties

Life loss in Thailand reached 5,313 people (incl. 1,240 foreign tourists or residents and 2,345
unidentified persons). The majority of the unidentified persons are believed to be foreign tourists and
their bodies were initially collected in four Buddhist temples in Phang Nga province undergoing
detailed forensic examination including DNA tests. In addition, there are 3,254 people listed as
missing including 1,063 foreigners. Thus the potential life loss is estimated at 8,500 people of which
half or more are foreign tourists. The number of injured people is 8,457 including 2,392 foreigners.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 41 26th December 2004

Table 6: Fatalities and missing persons by province in Thailand
Province Dead Missing
Thai Foreigner Unidentified Total Thai Foreigner Unidentified Total
Phang Nga 1,096 934 2,160 4,190 1,541 324 0 1,865
Krabi 317 191 185 693 376 354 0 730
Phuket 149 111 0 260 261 385 0 646
Ranong 157 2 0 159 12 0 0 12
Trang 3 2 0 5 1 0 0 1
Stoon 6 0 0 6 0 0 0 0
Total 1,728 1,240 2,345 5,313 2,191 1,063 0 3,254
Source: Tourism Authority of Thailand, Phuket Office, updated as of January 27, 2005.

Table 7: Injuries by province in Thailand

Province Dead
Thai Foreigner Unidentified Total
Phang Nga 4,344 1,253 0 5,597
Krabi 808 568 0 1,376
Phuket 591 520 0 1,111
Ranong 215 31 0 246
Trang 92 20 0 112
Stoon 15 0 0 15
Total 6,065 2,392 0 8,457
Source: Tourism Authority of Thailand, Phuket Office, updated as of January 27, 2005.

Potential lethality among the coastal population

2
Phuket Island is densely inhabited, with a surface area of 558 km and population of 225,000 people.
Life loss and missing people in Phuket was 906 of which 410 were Thai nationals. The population
within the first kilometre of the coast has been estimated by the Centre for International Earth Science
Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University to be 30,649 (or 13.7% of the total). At least two
thirds of the coast in Phuket was not seriously affected, which means that the lethality ratio among
Phuket inhabitants in the zone affected by the waves was around 3 to 5%. The number of tourists on
the island at the time of the event is not known but can be estimated at around 30,000 to 35,000
people, assuming one to two people per room and an occupancy rate of 70%.

In Phang Nga province the population within the first kilometre of the coast has been estimated by
CIESIN at 10,331 (or 4.3% of the total) and the number of confirmed Thai inhabitants that died or are
missing is 2,637 to which a number of the unidentified victims must be added. This means that in the
affected areas of Phang Nga the lethality ratio may have exceeded 25%. Reports from the worst
affected villages suggest very few survivors. The number of tourists in the Phang Nga province at the
time of the event is not known but can be estimated at around 6,000 people, assuming one to two
people per room and an occupancy rate of 70% in the 5,533 rooms in business at the time of the
tsunami. Many of the missing foreigners were out at sea, on offshore islands or on the beach at the
time of the tsunami. It seems that more than half of the tourists in Phang Nga perished in this disaster
(presuming that the majority of the unidentified victims were tourists).

CONCLUDING REMARKS

It is important to be recognized that the tsunami of December 26, 2004, were a rare occurrence with
correspondingly large consequences. The MW 9 earthquake was the fourth largest on Earth since 1900
(although this is still the subject of debate among seismologists, some suggesting that the magnitude may
have been even larger e.g. http://www.earth.northwestern.edu/people/seth/research/sumatra.html). The
death toll from the ensuing tsunami is the largest in recorded history in the world. The return period of this
earthquake is not yet known but would certainly be longer than 200 years considering its extremely large
magnitude. Studies conducted on the middle section of the Sunda trench suggest that the average

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 42 26th December 2004

recurrence interval of great thrust earthquakes (Ms>8) is about 230 years (see GAPResponse 3 report in
http://www.benfieldgroup.com/research/reports). For details on the study of tectonics in Sumatra see:
http://www.tectonics.caltech.edu/sumatra/main/scientific.html.

Tsunami have occurred before on the coasts of the Indian Ocean and the Andaman sea but the last
significant events were on August 27, 1883, during the eruption of the Krakatau volcano; on January 4,
1907, due to an earthquake of surface wave magnitude 7.6 with estimated epicenter near the 2004 event;
and on June 26, 1941, due to an earthquake of surface magnitude 8.1 in the Andaman islands. Prior to
these events tsunami had occurred in November 1833 and February 1861 due to large subduction
earthquakes west of Sumatra (surface wave magnitude 8.2 and 8.5 respectively), but these were centered
farther to the south and east and are not very well documented. The 2004 and 1883 tsunami fall into the
category of basin-wide events, however, the occurrence of several smaller tsunami events in the region
suggests that a tsunami warning system is now needed. Such a system when implemented must be well
integrated with other risk assessment and mitigation strategies, including education and community
participation, hazard mapping, coastal bathymetry investigations and planning regulations to name but
few.

This event highlighted inherent vulnerabilities that are of immediate concern to the affected countries as
well as to many other countries that are exposed to tsunami risk. Coastal populations are on the increase
in many parts of the world either for the exploitation of sea resources or due to tourism-related activities.
Tsunami hazard must be taken into account in areas at risk so that adequate protection measures can be
taken for infrastructure that is already in place or for works that will be carried out in the future.

In the areas visited by EEFIT, the tsunami ranged from 2.1 to 14.5 metres around areas with significant
damage. In parts of Aceh province (Indonesia) run-up of up to 30 metres has been documented by the
Japanese team visiting the area (http://www.eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp/namegaya/sumatera/surveylog/eindex.htm).
Extent of inundation in the worst affected areas varied but was generally in the range of 300 to 1200
metres from the coast in areas with significant damage. Throughout the areas visited, the variability of
damage along the coasts was significant and was most likely related to differences in coastal bathymetry,
coastal morphology and differences in coastal elevation profiles.

From the investigations conducted it was established that unreinforced masonry houses suffered the
worst failures, while reinforced concrete buildings showed varied levels of damage depending on their
construction standards. Studies of affected areas need to be carried out in order to establish the wave
velocity and likely loading on structures from the sea front and farther inland. Factors such as the
existence of fences or other obstacles, the density of buildings and the potential impact of debris must
also be taken into account. Satellite images will be helpful especially where detailed maps of the
infrastructure of the affected zone before the event may not be available.

Where wave heights exceeded 4 metres the potential for life loss near shore increased dramatically.
Rapidly moving water rushed through windows and other openings quickly inundating the living quarters
of buildings that were otherwise structurally sound. Fishermen’s villages as well as tourist resorts in Sri
Lanka and Thailand were often located very near the sea without any means of protection and thus
suffered most damage.

Northern Sumatra Earthquake and Tsunami 43 26th December 2004