Aceh Tsunami 2004, a Major Disaster that Changed Aceh and Indonesia
By: Noval Aditya
Tags: History, Politics, Social, Disaster, Indonesia

Recalling from sixteen years ago, in the middle of internal conflict a blast approaching Aceh. The biggest tsunami ever, served as turning point for Indonesia and Aceh. Huge loss and chaos, but built new compromises and joint efforts.

Post-tsunami sight of Aceh. (tekno.tempo.co)

From a historical perspective, since the first recorded tsunami along the Syrian coast around 2000 B.C., several thousand tsunamis have killed more than 500,000 people. Nearly half of this number occurred in a disaster in the Indian Ocean in 2004. Meanwhile, from a geographical point of view, the tsunami refers to a natural phenomenon in the form of large sea waves hitting the land as the effect of both seismic and volcanic underwater activities.

In Indonesia itself, the tsunami has hit several areas several times. One that can be identified is the tsunami on August 27, 1883, as a continuation of the eruption of Mount Krakatau which destroyed approximately 165 settlements and more than 32,000 people were declared dead. Towards the end of the 20th century, tsunamis have hit several areas such as: Flores, 1992; East Java, 1994; and Irian Jaya, 1996. Meanwhile, the largest was the tsunami of 26 December 2006 in Aceh, after being shaken by an earthquake ± 8.7 on the Richter scale, large waves devastated Banda Aceh, Meulaboh, Lhokseumawe and other coastal cities. Approximately 127,720 people were declared dead and 93,285 people missing.

Tsunamis generally occur because of large waves. This big wave is caused by the collision of the plates on the ocean floor which are always moving all the time. The collision that occurs between the plates causes an earthquake which then triggers a large wave or tsunami. Before the tsunami, in the subduction zone, solid oceanic plates pushed under the continental plates. At the same time, the continental plates will be pulled down and become flexible. If the continental plate at the top is pulled down by the oceanic plate that has maximum pressure, the continental plate will bounce (bounce) upward. At the same time, the sea level changes up and down. This change in sea level follows changes in vertical deformation on the seabed, causing a wave called a tsunami.

The Aceh Disaster Chronology

On the morning of Sunday, December 26, 2004, an earthquake measuring 9.1 on the Richter scale was followed by a devastating tsunami that devastated the region of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. The Aceh Tsunami disaster was touted as one of the strongest and deadliest natural disasters in modern history. Prior to the tsunami disaster, Aceh’s population was 4,297,485 people. Then after the tsunami disaster, based on the 2005 census, the population of Aceh decreased by around 265,896 people to 4,031,589 people. This shows how devastating and deadly the Tsunami disaster in Aceh was.

The Aceh Tsunami was caused by the collision of two tectonic plates on the ocean floor. The two plates that collided violently struck 1,600 kilometers of fault. The two plates are slowly increasing the pressure of 50 millimeters per year. The epicenter of the earthquake was 250 kilometers southwest of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Province, which caused a crack. The crack, which was in the form of a 10 meter long landslide, had protruded the seabed and then crashed it. The violent collision shook and pushed the water column up and down, resulting in a very large wave which then triggered a tsunami event. Less than 30 minutes after the earthquake occurred, the tsunami immediately devastated and wiped out the mainland of Aceh and surrounding islands. The tsunami waves spread in like a jet plane inland for as far as 6 kilometers. The speed of the big waves reaches 600–800 kilometers per hour from offshore.

At the time of the tsunami, people ran for safety and screamed in panic when they saw the sea water penetrate the land. When the first wave occurred, in the center of Banda Aceh the sea water was as high as ankle-deep. But a few minutes later, the second wave took place and swept away the whole city. The enormity of the tsunami waves at that time can be seen from how the ships that were originally at the port on the coast were thrown onto the roofs of shops, thousands of human bodies were torn apart, and almost all buildings and bridges were leveled to the ground.

The Government’s Response

The tsunami that flattened almost the entire coast in the province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, isolated Aceh from the outside world. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who at that time was at Nabire Airport, Papua, received a short message about the events in Aceh via a short message received by the Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare, Alwi Shihab. Meanwhile, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who attended the Acehnese halalbihalal event at Istora Senayan, immediately held a sudden meeting. The President and Vice President agreed to open the isolation of Aceh. The President stated that the Republic of Indonesia space was open to foreign parties wishing to distribute aid to Aceh and Nias, while the Vice President contacted the UN to coordinate international assistance, while the Indonesian National Armed Forces Commander, General Endriartono Sutarto immediately accepted offers of military assistance from friendly countries such as Australia , Malaysia, Singapore and the United States.

The President immediately flew to Aceh on 27 December 2004. While transiting in Makassar on the Jayapura-Lhokseumawe trip, the President declared a day of national mourning on 27–29 December 2004. Meanwhile from Jakarta, the Vice President sent the first team of Bakornas PBP and the TNI Commander instructed the Commander of the Iskandar Young to carry out humanitarian operations. After arriving in Banda Aceh on December 28, the President announced four priorities for disaster management: improving communication, distribution of logistics materials, relocating refugees, and searching for missing people and bodies. On 30 December 2005 the President decreed that all incoming assistance was coordinated by the Coordinating Minister for People’s Welfare Alwi Shihab. The party concerned was also asked to have an office in Aceh.

On January 6, 2005, the President attended a Special Conference for ASEAN Post-Earthquake and Post-Tsunami Leaders in Jakarta which subsequently produced a declaration to strengthen emergency response and rehabilitation and reconstruction after the earthquake and tsunami. In addition, the President emphasized that Aceh remains in a state of civil emergency (the status of civil emergency was lifted on 18 May 2005).

Aceh Post Disaster

The tsunami, a sea wave reaching the mainland of Aceh for up to 6 kilometers, has caused many casualties. It is recorded that the number of victims resulting from the Tsunami disaster in Aceh reached 127,000 people plus 93,285 people who were missing. Not only casualties, this devastating Tsunami has caused a lot of damage to infrastructure in Aceh Province. Including important facilities like airports and health centers were destroyed. Small and medium businesses were paralyzed and many teachers died.

But on the other hand, the Tsunami in Aceh not only had a bad impact, but also had a positive impact. In the field of infrastructure and urban planning, many improvements have been made, such as repairing roads in Aceh that are getting wider, traffic signs are increasingly clear, gas station stations that were previously damaged have been repaired. Docks, airports, cultural places, schools and houses also permanently rebuilt. Restaurants, hotels and convenience stores have sprung up which indicates a good economic turnaround in Aceh. In the political field, there has been peace between the separatist forces of GAM (Free Aceh Movement) and the Indonesian government. The Tsunami disaster in Aceh turned out to alert GAM to stop the war. They thought again about fighting and taking up arms, when they saw the condition of many Acehnese people who died. Until finally they decided to stop fighting and signed a peace agreement with the Indonesian government in Helsinki, Finland on August 15, 2005 with the Henry Dunant Center and former President of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari as third parties.