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 Tsunami Destroys Lhoknga, Indonesia
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The Indonesian province of Aceh was hit hardest by the earthquake and tsunamis of December 26, 2004. Aceh is located on the northern tip of the island of Sumatra. Early Western media attention was focused on Sri Lanka and Thailand, even though the earthquake epicenter was closer to Aceh, and the largest waves struck the northwestern coast of Sumatra. On Decemebr 29, estimates of the death toll in Indonesia were over 80,000—more than half the global total. The town of Lhoknga, on the west coast of Sumatra near the capital of Aceh, Banda Aceh, was completely destroyed by the tsunami, with the exception of the mosque (white circular feature) in the city’s center.
These high-resolution satellite images, acquired by Space Imaging’s Ikonos satellite, show Lhoknga before (lower) and after (top) the earthquake and Tsunami. Almost all the trees, vegetation, and buildings in the area were washed away. Behind the town, low-lying agricultural areas remained covered with water four days after the disaster, and sand on the nearby beaches was completely removed. The wave height might have exceeded 15 meters (50 feet) when it struck the shore. 
Equivalent devestation extends 225 kilometers southeast along the Sumatran Coast, in a band up to 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) deep. Imagery from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (above) shows the affected area as a thin strip of brown along the coast. Ikonos images copyright Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing, National University of Singapore and Space Imaging.
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One great thing about this planet, I will bet you anything, in two years, maybe one, those spaces just beyond the beach will be green. And one more point while on the subject, there is very little man can do to this planet which will destroy her, we may destroy the ability for mankind to live here but this planet can survive anything.
LHOKNGA (INDONESIA), JANUARY 1: For five days, the three friends walked across a 95-mile wasteland of death and destruction. Living on coconuts, cassava and unopened noodle packets they found along the way,
they hiked along the west coast of Sumatra through 150 villages that had been reduced to rubble by Sunday’s massive earthquake and the big wave. They swam across 15 rivers where bridges had been washed away. They passed more bodies than they could count, including some that had lain in the tropical sun for so long they had burst.
But for five days there is one thing they didn’t see: another living person. On Friday, Nurdin Mohammad, 30, Abidin Zaenal, 30, and Imran Burhan, 23, swam across their final river and arrived in Lhoknga, a coastal village on the northwestern tip of Sumatra. Lhoknga also was obliterated by the tsunami, but from there it was just a few short miles by car to their home village on the outskirts of Banda Aceh. ‘‘I just want to go home,’’ said Mohammed.
The account of the trek by the three construction workers painted a picture of destruction so severe that all the survivors appeared to have fled their villages along the coastal strip for safety in the steep hills above the shore. The west coast of the island is so difficult to reach that authorities still are uncertain how many people died.
In some parts of Sumatra’s west coast that rescue workers have reached, three quarters of the population was wiped out. In the village in Calang, where the three laborers worked and began their trek, only 20 of the 400 people survived, they said.
Mohammed said survived by grabbing onto a durian tree as the waves rolled in. Although the pace of rescue operations and food distribution has picked up over the past few days, the trio said they did not see any sign of aid workers along the coast. ‘‘I didn’t see anyone alive in five days of walking,’’ Mohammed said.
Some victims have criticized the Indonesian military for the slow pace of aid distribution and its initial hesitation to work with some foreign donors. But on Friday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla also said US aid was taking too long. ‘‘We received many condolences but not yet enough in kind,’’ he told reporters during a stop in Banda Aceh.
The destruction in Lhoknga, about 10 miles south of Banda Aceh, illustrates the power of the quake and tsunami along the west coast. Nearly every building was obliterated, leaving only the foundations and rubble. At a military post in the village, only six of the 300 soldiers survived. In all, only about 200 of the 1,000 residents survived. —
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=61931
