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Major Tsunamis of 1992 - Nicaragua and Indonesia |
| On September 1, 1992 (September 2 at 00:16 GMT), an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 generated a tsunami with waves between 8 and 15 meters high that struck 26 towns along 250 km of Nicaragua's Pacific coast. More than 40,000 people were affected by the loss of their homes or means of income. The waves left 116 dead, 63 missing and another 489 injured. On December 12, 1992, a 7.8 surface wave magnitude earthquake occurred in the Flores region of Indonesia. Flores Island is located about 1,800 km east of Jakarta. The death toll as a result of the combined earthquake and tsunami effects was more than 2,000. This slide set shows damage from the September tsunami along Nicaragua's Pacific coast (6 slides) and the December tsunami in the Flores region of Indonesia (14 slides). |
Damage at El Tranisto, Nicaragua | |
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Nicaragua The tsunami damage at El Tranisto, (population 1,000), the area most devastated by the tsunami in Nicaragua. Sixteen people were killed (14 children and two elderly men) and 151 were injured. More than two hundred houses (nearly all the houses in El Tranisto) were destroyed by waves that reached more than nine meters at this site. It is thought that the first wave was relatively small, and that it provided a warning which allowed most of the able-bodied people to escape the force of the second and third very destructive waves. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington. |
Beach at El Popoyo, Nicaragua | |
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Nicaragua The beach area at El Popoyo after the tsunami. A large rock shown in the photo was carried from an offshore region 50 m inland and raised 1.85 m above sea level. The rock measured 2.3 m by 1.6 m by 0.5 m thick and provides a silent testimony of the force of the waves at this location. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington. |
Structures at El Popoyo, Nicaragua | |
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Nicaragua Structures at El Popoyo, where fifteen people lost their lives. Waves at this location reached a height of 5.6 m. One wall and a foundation are all that remain of a house that was entirely removed by the tsunami at El Popoyo, Nicaragua. Repairs have begun to the structure on the right. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington. |
Contrasting construction, El Popoyo, Nicaragua | |
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Nicaragua This slide shows a typical sight at El Popoyo. Two very different structures remain intact. The one on the right is a rigid, sturdy structure. The structure on the left is a very weak structure but is elevated high off the ground. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington. |
Structural damage, El Popoyo, Nicaragua | |
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Nicaragua The shed on the left was toppled by the waves and the structure on the right was damaged by the tsunami at El Popoyo. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington. |
Damaged structures, Marsella, Nicaragua | |
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The damaged structures along the beach at Marsella after the tsunami. Waves at this location reached a height of more than eight meters and scoured the beach, leaving exposed roots. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Destruction of Riangkroko, Indonesia | |
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Indonesia A sandy beach is all that remains after the waves removed all trace of Riangkroko. An extremely large tsunami runup (26 m) was measured at this small rural village on Flores Island, and 137 people lost their lives to the earthquake and the tsunamis. The village was located at the mouth of the Nipah River, a small river with its northwest side facing the Flores Sea. The inundation distance from the shoreline along the river is approximately 600 m. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Aerial view of Riangkroko, Indonesia | |
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Indonesia An aerial view of Riangkroko after the tsunami. The area inundated by the tsunami appears as bare ground. The devastation indicates that the tsunami must have been very strong to have removed almost all the vegetation and structures in the area. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Upper extent of inundation, Riangkroko, Indonesia | |
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Indonesia Pictured here is the upper extent of the inundation at Riangkroko. Coral debris appears to have been carried up more than 200 m from the shoreline by the tsunami. At other tsunami-inundated sites in Flores Island, most of the trees survived the tsunami. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Tree remains after tsunami, Riangkroko, Indonesia | |
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Indonesia This view shows one of the few trees left remaining on the beach at Riangkroko after the tsunami. At other locations along the beach the waves removed all traces of life. For scale note the person at the left of the tree. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Remaining debris at Riangkroko, Indonesia | |
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Indonesia Debris remaining after the tsunami at one end of the beach at Riangkroko. Note that large trees were uprooted by the force of the waves. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Upper extent of inundation, Riangkroko, Indonesia | |
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Indonesia The upper extent of the tsunami inundation at Riangkroko. Note that the salt water has killed much of the remaining vegetation. The amount of destruction can be inferred from the debris size in comparison to the person who is standing at the lower left. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Effects of tsunami, Leworahang, Indonesia | |
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Indonesia The effects of the tsunami at Leworahang. Massive, multiple, subaqueous slumps occurred along the south shore of Hading Bay (opposite the Leworahang area.) The measured tsunami runup heights in this area are much larger than expected, and may be submarine landslide-generated waves rather than earthquake generated waves. The slump in this area is almost vertical, and it caused the disappearance of a shoreline area approximately 150 m wide and 2 km long, leaving behind steep vertical cliffs. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Effects of tsunami, Leworahang, Indonesia | |
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Indonesia A second view of the effects of the tsunami at Leworahang, Indonesia. The measured runup height at this location is 10.9 m. The unofficial height was 14 m. A paved road comes to an abrupt halt at the edge of the vertical cliff. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Slump area, Leworahang, Indonesia | |
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Indonesia The slump area at Leworahang. In this area twenty-four people were reported killed. Twelve houses were completely submerged and are no longer visible. The cliff was formed when subsidence due to earth shaking occurred. A short time later a tsunami of fourteen meters overran the cliff. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Slumps at Lewobele, Indonesia | |
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Indonesia At least two more significant subaqueous slumps, approximately one kilometer long each, were found near Lewobele (shown here) approximately six kilometers west of Leworahang. The runup height was 10.8 m. The area remained unstable after the tsunami. Many deep vertical cracks appeared on the ground near the newly-exposed vertical cliff. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Complete devastation at Pagaraman, Babi Island, Indonesia | |
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Indonesia A view of the complete devastation of Pagaraman, on Babi Island. Due to strong earth shaking and tsunami waves, about 700 people were reported killed and more than 100 were reported missing. This area had the largest death toll of any location for this event. Eyewitnesses described gruesome scenes including human remains suspended from tree branches. Babi Island is located about five kilometers offshore of Flores Island. It has a conical shape, a two kilometer diameter, and a summit elevation of 351 m. In spite of its location close to the main island, one sounding in the narrow gap between Babi and Flores is 241 m deep. The north shore faces the Flores Sea and is protected by a wide coral reef. The south shore, where the destroyed villages were located, has a much narrower reef. Near the middle of the south shore there is a small tidal flat which separates Kampungbaru (on the west side) from Pagaraman (on the east side). Both villages were completely destroyed by the tsunamis. The tsunamis washed away everything from Pagaraman leaving only white beach sand. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Complete destruction at Kampungbaru, Babi Island, Indonesia | |
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The effects of the tsunami at Kampungbaru, Babi Island. This Moslem village on Babi Island was also completely destroyed. A few large pieces of structures are now scattered on the unusually wide and flattened white sandy beach and very few trees remain. Sediment, like beach sand, has been spread over about 300 m wide area of the beach. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Debris dump Kampungbaru, Indonesia | |
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Between the upper end of the sediment sheet and the foothills there is a dense coconut tree grove at Kampungbaru. This grove is now approximately 1.5 m lower than the beach surface. It is not known whether this lower elevation was created by subsidence following the earthquake or if it was the original topography. Regardless, this area of lower elevation is where all the debris from the village was dumped by the tsunami. The site looked and smelled like a shallow garbage dump. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |
Effects at Wuhring, Floress Island, Indonesia | |
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The effects of the tsunami at Wuhring, Flores Island. Although the tsunami heights at this location were lower than elsewhere (only about 3.5 m) the waves swept entirely over the 400 m by 200 m peninsula inundating the densely populated community of Wuhring and killing 100. Here the damage was not as severe as on Babi Island. The waves left conical sand accumulations inside the houses, and at some locations the depth of the debris was about one meter. Photo Credit: Harry Yeh, University of Washington |