(Aceh Tsunami Museum) is a museum in Banda Aceh that was designed as a symbolic monument to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami disaster as well as a disaster education center and emergency shelter if the tsunami happened again
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake occurred at 08:58:53 UTC on December 26; the epicenter is located off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake shock measured 9.1–9.3 on the Moment and IX (Violent) strength scale on the Mercalli intensity scale. The underwater megathrust earthquake occurred when the Indian Plate was pushed down by the Burmese Plate and triggered a series of deadly tsunamis along the mainland coast bordering the Indian Ocean. Tsunami waves reaching 30 meters (100 ft) in height killed 230,000-280,000 lives in 14 countries and sank a number of coastal settlements. This earthquake and tsunami was one of the deadliest natural disasters in history. Indonesia is the most severely affected country besides Sri Lanka, India and Thailand.
This is the third largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph and the longest duration of faults in history (between 8.3 and 10 minutes). This earthquake caused the entire planet Earth to vibrate 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) and trigger earthquake activity in various regions, including Alaska. The epicenter is located between Simeulue and Sumatra islands. The suffering of affected communities and countries encourages various countries to provide humanitarian assistance. The international community as a whole contributed more than US $ 14 billion (2004) in the form of humanitarian assistance. This event was known among researchers as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake. The subsequent tsunami received various nicknames, including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the South Asian tsunami, the Indonesian tsunami, the Christmas tsunami, and the Boxing Day tsunami.