April 2, 1964 Earthquake: Banda Aceh, Indonesia

Reference #414:

1964, April 2, 8:12 (local time). 5.9 N, 95.7 E, depth 130 km, magnitude 7 MS, tsunami intensity 0. There was a strong earthquake off the northern tip of Sumatra Island, in Aceh province.

It reached an intensity of 7 degrees and was felt on the southeast of Langsa. In the coastal village of Kruengradja, situated on a river terrace, the walls cracked in the only well-built brick building, the mosque; five old wooden homes on piles collapsed and more than 80 similar homes were damaged; the wooden school building tilted to one side; a bridge shifted; people were thrown to the ground; cracks opened up in the valley, and ejected water and sand. The force of the oscillations intensified gradually, which allowed the residents to jump from their homes before they collapsed.

At Banda Aceh, situated on alluvial grounds 10-15 km from the coast, 30-40% of the adobe buildings were damaged. Brick-wood buildings suffered little, and wooden pile homes and concrete buildings on the whole did not suffer. Between Banda Aceh and Kruengradja and at other places, cracks up to 400 m long and 1/2 m wide appeared in the ground; some areas of ground subsided; mud and sand gryphoons appeared.

The village of Lamtaba, situated at the foot of a volcano and built up with wooden pile homes, was 90% destroyed; more than 50 homes collapsed completely; stones rolled down from the slopes of the volcano.

At Lamtamot, a highway bridge was twisted and a railway embankment collapsed, but the brick station building and new wooden homes hardly suffered. At Seulimeum, only one old wooden home collapsed. Buildings cracked at Sigli.

At Uleelheo, situated on alluvial grounds, buildings suffered little, but a considerable stretch of the coast and the floor of the bay subsided about 1/2 m so that water came right up to the houses.

In addition, a tidal [tsunami] wave was observed here.

Reference #1188:

1964, April 2, 0lh llm 55s UTC. 5.9 N, 95.7 E

Magnitude: 5.2, Depth: 132 km. Intensity VII. Banda Aceh: The earthquake was the strongest shock ever recorded in this region since that of August 23, 1936 which caused considerable damage to buildings. The quake was most strongly felt at Banda Aceh where the intensity was high (VI1 MMI). About 30-40% of the brick buildings sustained damage. The village worst hit was Krueng Raya.

Reference #1185:

1964, April 2, 01:11:48.6. 5.8 N, 95.4 E, magnitude 5.6 mb, moderate damage.