Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 475,807.63 km2 (182,812 mi.2), including adjacent islands such as the Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai, Enggano, Riau Islands, Bangka Belitung and Krakatoa archipelago.
The Mentawai Islands Regency are a chain of about seventy islands and islets approximately 150 kilometres off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. They cover 6,033.76 km2 and had a population of 76,173 at the 2010 Census and 87,623 at the 2020 Census. Siberut at 3,838.25 square kilometres is the largest of the islands. The other major islands are Sipura, North Pagai, and South Pagai. The islands lie off the Sumatran coast, across the Mentawai Strait. The indigenous inhabitants of the islands are known as the Mentawai people. The Mentawai Islands have become a noted destination for surfing, with over 40 boats offering surf charters to international guests.
Padang is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of West Sumatra. With a Census population of 1,015,000 as of 2022, it is the 16th most populous city in Indonesia and the most populous city on the west coast of Sumatra. The Padang metropolitan area is the third most populous metropolitan area in Sumatra with a population of over 1.4 million. Padang is widely known for its Minangkabau culture, cuisine, and sunset beaches.
On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate, and reached a Mercalli intensity up to IX in some areas.
Nias is an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago of which the island is the centre, but also includes the Batu Islands to the south-east and the small Hinako Islands to the west. Nias Island covers an area of 5,625.0 km2 (2,171.8 sq mi). It is mostly a lowland area rising to around 800 m (2,600 ft) above sea level. There were 756,338 inhabitants on the island at the 2010 Census; at the 2015 Census this had risen to 798,506 and the 2020 Census resulted in a total of 880,550. The official estimate as at mid 2022 was 902,632.
Indonesia was the first country to be seriously affected by the earthquake and tsunami created by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake on 26 December 2004, swamping the northern and western coastal areas of Sumatra, and the smaller outlying islands off Sumatra. Nearly all the casualties and damage took place within the province of Aceh. The time of arrival of the tsunami was between 15 and 30 minutes after the deadly earthquake. According to the country's National Disaster Relief Coordination Agency, around 130,000 people were dead and 37,063 were missing. In addition, the UN estimated that 655,000 people were homeless and sheltering in scattered refugee camps across the province.
Sipora located off Sumatra in the West Sumatra Province of Indonesia, is the second-smallest and most developed of the four Mentawai Islands at only 651.55 km2. It had a population of 17,557 at the 2010 Census and 21,901 at the 2020 Census. The regency capital of the Mentawai Islands, Tuapejat, is found on Sipora. An estimated 10-15% of the original rainforest remains on this island.
Mentawai people are the native people of the Mentawai Islands about 100 miles from West Sumatra province, Indonesia. They live a semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle in the coastal and rainforest environments of the islands and are also one of the oldest tribes in Indonesia. The Mentawai population is estimated to be about 64,000. The Mentawai tribe is documented to have migrated from Nias – a northern island – to the Mentawai islands, living in an isolated life for centuries until they encountered the Dutch in 1621. The ancestors of the indigenous Mentawai people are believed to have first migrated to the region somewhere between 2000 and 500 BCE. The Mentawai language belongs to the Austronesian language family. They follow their own animist belief system called Arat Sabulungan, that links the supernatural powers of ancestral spirits to the ecology of the rainforest. When the spirits are not treated well or forgotten, they might bring bad luck like illnesses and haunt those who forgot them. Mentawai also have very strong belief towards objects they think are holy. The people are characterized by their heavy spirituality, body art and their tendency to sharpen their teeth, a cultural practice tied to Mentawai beauty ideals. Mentawai tend to live in unison and peace with the nature around them because they believe that all things in nature have a form of spiritual essence.
North Pagai is the smallest of the four principal Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. It is south of Sipora and north of South Pagai Island.
South Pagai is one of the Mentawai Islands of the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. The island is south of North Pagai Island. The population figure given for South Pagai refers to South Pagai District alone. The largely unpopulated south portion of Sikakap District covers the southern part of North Pagai Island and the northern part of South Pagai Island, as well as various small islands in the strait between the two.
Simeulue is an island of Indonesia, 150 kilometres (93 mi) off the west coast of Sumatra. It covers an area of 1,754 square kilometres, including minor offshore islands. It had a population of 80,674 at the 2010 census and 92,865 at the 2020 census. The official estimate as at mid 2021 was 93,762. Its capital is Sinabang.
The September 2007 Sumatra earthquakes were a series of megathrust earthquakes that struck the Sunda Trench off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, with three of magnitude 7 or greater. A series of tsunami bulletins was issued for the area. The most powerful of the series had a magnitude of 8.5, which makes it in the top 20 of the largest earthquakes ever recorded on a seismograph.
The first of the 2009 Sumatra earthquakes occurred on 30 September off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia with a moment magnitude of 7.6 at . The epicenter was 45 kilometres (28 mi) west-northwest of Padang, West Sumatra, and 220 kilometres (140 mi) southwest of Pekanbaru, Riau. Government and authorities confirmed 1,115 dead, 1,214 severely injured and 1,688 slightly injured. The most deaths occurred in the areas of Padang Pariaman (675), Padang (313), Agam (80) and Pariaman (37). In addition, around 135,000 houses were severely damaged, 65,000 houses were moderately damaged and 79,000 houses were slightly damaged. An estimated 250,000 families have been affected by the earthquake through the total or partial loss of their homes and livelihoods.
The Sunda megathrust is a fault that extends approximately 5,500 km (3300 mi) from Myanmar (Burma) in the north, running along the southwestern side of Sumatra, to the south of Java and Bali before terminating near Australia. It is a megathrust, located at a convergent plate boundary where it forms the interface between the overriding Eurasian plate and the subducting Indo-Australian plate. It is one of the most seismogenic structures on Earth, being responsible for many great and giant earthquakes, including the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that killed over 227,000 people. The Sunda megathrust can be divided into the Andaman Megathrust, Sumatra(n) Megathrust and Java(n) Megathrust. The Bali-Sumbawa segment is much less active and therefore does not have the "megathrust" term associated with it.
The April 2010 Sumatra earthquake occurred on with a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The shock occurred near the Banyak Islands, off the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. A tsunami watch was issued according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu which was later canceled. A 40 cm surge was reported in the Banyak Islands an hour after the quake, along with 62 injuries. Power outages were reported throughout the province of North Sumatra as well as in Aceh. This quake is one in a sequence of large earthquakes along the Sunda megathrust in the 2000s.
SurfAid International is an international charitable organization working in the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia. It was founded by Dr. Dave Jenkins of New Zealand in 2000. In 1999 he was on a surfing trip in the area and saw the health problems of the local people. SurfAid's early efforts were focused on providing health education to the people and mosquito nets to prevent the spread of malaria.
The 2010 Mentawai earthquake occurred with a moment magnitude of 7.8 on 25 October off the western coast of Sumatra at 21:42 local time. The earthquake occurred on the same fault that produced the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. It was widely felt across the provinces of Bengkulu and West Sumatra and resulted in a substantial localized tsunami that struck the Mentawai Islands.
The 2016 Sumatra earthquake was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake which struck on 2 March 2016 in the Indian Ocean, approximately 800 kilometers southwest of Sumatra in Indonesia. Tsunami warnings were issued for Indonesia and Australia, but were withdrawn two hours later. There were no deaths directly related to the earthquake.
The 2004 Alor earthquake occurred on the island of Alor at 21:26:41 UTC on 11 November. Alor is an island located in Indonesia, the largest island of the Alor Archipelago with almost 16,800 residents. The earthquake had a magnitude of 7.5, on the moment magnitude scale, and an epicenter on Alor at a depth of 10 km (6.2 mi). It was recorded on 301 stations. The epicenter of the earthquake was located 1,600 km (990 mi) east of the capital of Jakarta. Hundreds of homes and much infrastructure was damaged with 23 deaths and thousands of casualties.
