The Great Sumatra Earthquake and

Indian Ocean Tsunami

On December 26, 2004, the Great Sumatra Earthquake and Indian Ocean Tsunami impacted twelve nations in the Indian Ocean Basin. The catastrophe claimed over 300,000 lives across countries including Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Maldives, and Somalia.

Information Products	“Before and After” scenes for Indonesia and Thailand
Damage Assessment Maps	Over 90 maps of India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, and Somalia
Tsunami Response Map Viewer	Includes nearly 35,000 square kilometers of high-resolution imagery
Tsunami Response Geospatial Information Service	GIS holdings include high-resolution imagery and other data

Key Resources

Indian Ocean Earthquake Tsunami Emergency Reports from the Center of Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance

Ongoing Coverage from ReliefWeb

Asia Tsunami Primer from the Virtual Information Center

PDC's Indian Ocean Tsunami-Related Services		PDC's Tsunami-Related News
South East Asia and Indian Ocean Tsunami Response Map Viewer. An interactive map of the impacted area that includes Landsat imagery, SRTM-derived shaded relief images, LANDSCAN-derived population density, detailed coastlines, damage polygons, and high-resolution imagery. This service is designed for both general and GIS users.
Indian Ocean Tsunami Response Geospatial Information Service. A spatial information map service that contains downloadable data including Landsat imagery, SRTM-derived shaded relief images, LANDSCAN-derived population density, detailed coastlines, damage polygons, and high-resolution imagery. This service is designed to support GIS data needs for emergency managers. Click here for additional details.
ThoughtWeb Relief. A collaborative web site with ThoughtWeb Inc. to assist disaster relief experts to collect and integrate information on relief and recovery operations.
IoQuake. An e-mail based notification system for significant earthquakes in the Indian Ocean region, providing emergency managers with warnings of potentially tsunami-generating earthquake aftershocks.

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Pre- and post-event high-resolution imagery for Meulaboh, Indonesia showing local devastation. Additional images of this scene can be viewed here. QuickBird images © 2005 DigitalGlobe.


Pre- and post-event high-resolution imagery for Lhok Nga, Indonesia showing local devastation, including the destruction of a cement factory. Additional images of this scene can be viewed here. IKONOS images © 2005 Space Imaging LLC, QuickBird images © 2005 DigitalGlobe.


Pre-and post event high-resolution imagery for Takua Pa, Thailand. Additional images of this scene can viewed here. IKONOS images © 2005 Space Imaging LLC, ClearView License; QuickBird images © 2005 DigitalGlobe, ClearView License.


The image on the left depicts Landsat data circa 2000. The image on the right is a QuickBird image taken on December 30, 2004 (© 2005 DigitalGlobe, ClearView License). Massive tsunami damage (depicted here in orange) is visible in post-event imagery along coastlines in the QuickBird image. Please note that band combinations are different. Accordingly, vegetation appears much brighter in Landsat image. The images are accessible through the South East Asia and Indian Ocean Tsunami Response Map Viewer

“Before and after” damage products of Phuket, Thailand, courtesy of NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. Click here to view an enlarged image. Click here for additional "before and after" damage products of Kalutara Beach, Sri Lanka, courtesy of Digital Globe.