West Coast of Northern Sumatra

Origin Time: 26 December, 2004, 00:58:53 UTC
Location: 3.30º N   95.87º E
Magnitude: 9.0
Depth: 30 km

A magnitude 9.0 earthquake on December 26, 2004, off the west coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, triggered massive tsunamis that affected several countries throughout South and Southeast Asia, as well as Somalia, Tanzania, and Kenya in East Africa. As of January 3, 2005, the death toll from the earthquake and tsunamis is estimated to be more than 150,000 people. This is the fourth largest earthquake in the world since 1900 and is the largest since the 1964 Prince William Sound, Alaska earthquake.
 
According to the United States Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program website the earthquake was generated from a megathrust along the 1200 km subduction zone where India plate subducts beneath the overriding Burma plate. The width of the fault-rupture is estimated to be over 100 km. and displacement on the fault plane was about 15 m.