Lessons from the 2004 Sumatra–Andaman earthquake

Abstract

The 2004 Sumatra–Andaman earthquake (M_w=9.0–9.3) is one of the greatest earthquakes ever recorded. In terms of its physical size, it is comparable to the 1960 Chilean (M_w=9.5) and the 1965 Alaskan (M_w=9.2) earthquakes. However, the damage caused by this earthquake is far greater than that caused by other great earthquakes. The 2004 Sumatra–Andaman earthquake has been studied in great detail over broad time-scales, from a fraction of seconds to hours and months, using the modern seismic data available from global seismic networks and the Global Positioning System data. We summarize the findings obtained mainly from seismic data, and discuss the unique feature of this earthquake, and possible directions of research to minimize the impact of great earthquakes on our society.

Additional Information

© 2006 The Royal Society. Published online 27 June 2006. One contribution of 20 to a Discussion Meeting Issue 'Extreme natural hazards.' I thank Steve Sparks and James Jackson for providing me with the general guidance concerning the organization of this paper. Swaminathan Krishnan read the manuscript and offered me valuable comments. Tomotaka Iwata brought my attention to the work of the Central Disaster Management Council of the Japanese Government, and together with Hiroe Miyake offered me advice on the method used in the Japanese scenario earthquake studies. Mohamed Chlieh and Vala Hjőrleifsdóttir helped me with figures 1 and 3, respectively. The early version of this paper was written while I was visiting the Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, under the Eminent Scientists Award Program of the Japan Society of Promotion of Science.

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Lessons from the 2004 Sumatra–Andaman earthquake

Abstract

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