Tsunamis in Burma

In a total of 2 tidal waves classified as a tsunami since 1930 a total of 650 people died in Burma. Tsunamis therefore occur only rarely here.

The strongest tidal wave registered in Burma so far reached a height of 2.9 meters. At this Tsunami on 12/26/2004 a total of 150 people have been killed.

The biggest impact in terms of lifes, injuries, destroyed homes and economy had been a tsunami on 05/05/1930. A tidal wave of up to 1.1 meters killed 500 humans and destroyed vast areas.

Other natural hazards in Burma:
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The marked positions on the map represent the most effected regions within the past 100 years.

Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes or other seismic eruptions on ground of an oceans and can cause massive tidal waves, which run with enormous force on land, causing great devastation. Especially in regions with only few tsunamis, the damage is often drastic, as the population does not expect tsunamis and thus hardly takes any protective measures. Even relatively small flood waves can lead to high losses and financial damage.

The largest tsunamis in Burma since 1930

Date	Cause	max wave height	Deaths	Total damage
12/26/2004	Earthquake in Indonesia (Off W. Coast Of Sumatra) with a magnitude of 9.1. The tsunami caused damages in 20 further countries. A total of 227,899 humans died.	2.9 m	150
05/05/1930	Earthquake in Burma (Myanmar Coast) with a magnitude of 7.3.	1.1 m	500

These statistics are based on datas from the National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): Global Historical Tsunami Database. doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K. Several data have been summarized and translated.