Tsunamis in Myanmar

A total of 2 tidal waves classified as a tsunami since 1930 have killed 650 people in Myanmar. Tsunamis therefore occur only rarely here.

The strongest tidal wave registered in Myanmar so far reached a height of 2.9 meters. On 12/26/2004, this tsunami killed a total of 150 people.

The biggest impact in terms of lifes, injuries, destroyed homes and the 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 Myanmar:
› Earthquakes
› Cyclones
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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 marked positions on the map represent the most affected regions within the past one hundred years.

The largest tsunamis in Myanmar since 1930

Date	Cause	Max. tidal wave	Fatalities	Total damage
12/26/2004	Earthquakes 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	Earthquakes in Myanmar (Myanmar Coast) with a magnitude of 7.3.	1.1 m	500

These evaluations are based on data from the Global Historical Tsunami Database of the National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA, and World Data Service (NGDC/WDS), doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Individual data have been summarized or translated.

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