Government or official record
Indian Ocean Tsunami Programme
UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission
Where this source supports the record
Each entry separates the article’s editorial relevance note from its exact, section-level claims. A bibliography link without a direct claim is labeled plainly.
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Natural disasters · 26 December 2004Open article references →
Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami
Banda Aceh tsunami disaster area · Indonesia
Why editors use it hereOfficial regional record of the 2004 impact and the warning and mitigation system developed afterward.
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Quick read
On 26 December 2004, a magnitude 9.1 megathrust earthquake ruptured a vast section of the seafloor west of northern Sumatra.
Reviewed 4 August 2026 -
Trigger and conditions
A rupture extended roughly northward from off Sumatra for more than a thousand kilometers, vertically displacing the seabed.
Reviewed 4 August 2026 -
Uncertainty
Magnitude estimates were revised as scientists measured the unusually long rupture.
Reviewed 4 August 2026 -
Why it matters
The 2004 tsunami was a single geophysical event experienced through many languages, governments, coastlines, and social conditions.
Reviewed 4 August 2026
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Quick read