Maldives Field Survey after the December 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

The tsunami of 26 December 2004 severely affected the Maldives at a distance of 2,500 km from the epicenter of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake. The Maldives provide an opportunity to assess the impact of a tsunami on coral atolls. Two international tsunami survey teams (ITSTs) surveyed a total of 13 heavily damaged islands. The islands were visited by seaplane on 14–15 and 18–19 January 2005. We recorded tsunami heights of up to 4 m on Vilufushi on the basis of the location of debris in trees and watermarks on buildings. Each watermark was localized by means of a global positioning system (GPS) and was photographed. Numerous eyewitness interviews were recorded on video. The significantly lower tsunami impact on the Maldives as compared with Sri Lanka is largely due to the topography and bathymetry of the atoll chain.