Tide gauge observations of the Indian Ocean tsunami, December 26

• Published in: Geophysical research letters Vol. 32; no. 9
• Main Authors: Merrifield, M A, Firing, Y L, Aarup, T, Agricole, W, Brundrit, G, Chang-Seng, D, Farre, R, Kilonsky, B, Knight, W, Kong, L, Magori, C, Manurung, P, McCreery, C, Mitchell, W, Pillay, S, Schindele, F, Shillington, F, Testut, L, Wijeratne, E M S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.05.2005
• Subjects: Marine
• ISSN: 0094-8276
• DOI: 10.1029/2005GL022610

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake centered off the west coast of northern Sumatra (3.307'N, 95.947'E) on December 26, 2004 at 00:59 UTC (United States Geological Survey (USGS) (2005), USGS Earthquake Hazards Program-Latest Earthquakes, Earthquake Hazards Program, < cite-other type="online" locator-type="URL" locator- text="http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2004/usslav/" > http://e arthquak e.usg s.gov/eqinthenews/2004/usslav/ < /cite-other > , 2005) generated a series of tsunami waves that devastated coastal areas throughout the Indian Ocean. Tide gauges operated on behalf of national and international organizations recorded the wave form at a number of island and continental locations. This report summarizes the tide gauge observations of the tsunami in the Indian Ocean (available as of January 2005) and provides a recommendation for the use of the basin-wide tide gauge network for future warnings.