Yoshinobu Tsuji1, Yuichiro Tanioka2, Hideo Matsutomi3, Yuichi Nishimura2, Takanobu Kamataki4, Yoshikane Murakami5, Tsutomu Sakakiyama6, Andrew Moore7, Guy Gelfenbaum8, Sindhu Nugroho9, Budi Waluyo9, Inyoman Sukanta9, Rahmat Triyono9, and Yuichi Namegaya1

Abstract:
A huge earthquake of magnitude M 9.0 occurred at 00:58 (UT), December 26, 2004, in the sea off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia, followed by a huge tsunami that hit almost all coasts facing the Indian Ocean. We conducted a field survey in the residential area of Banda Aceh, the town of the severest damage by the tsunami, on the west coast of the northernmost point Sumatra, Sigli City, about 80 kilometers east of Banda Aceh three-four weeks after the event. In Banda Aceh, almost all houses in the residential area about 2 km from the coast were swept away, while houses more than 3 km rarely were. Inundation continued about 5 to 6 km from the shoreline. In Lhoknga and several villages on the west coast of Sumatra Island near Banda Aceh, where tsunamis 15 to 30 meters high hit coastal villages, nobody survived. Along the valley about 1 km north of the cement plant, seawater rose to a height of 34.8 m above MSL, which is the highest recorded inundation measured in our survey.

Keywords: the 2004 Sumatra Earthquake-Tsunami, tsunami run-up height, field survey of tsunami suffering coast, tsunami damage of a city, Banda Aceh