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Tsunamis and Earthquakes

The December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami: Initial Findings on Tsunami Sand Deposits, Damage, and Inundation in Sri Lanka

Survey Site Locations and Photos

Hikkaduwa

Click photo to see a larger image

Photo in Hikkaduwa
Bulldozers and front-end loaders had redistributed the rubble and cleaned up much of the debris in some areas of Sri Lanka visited by the survey teams.
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Photo in Hikkaduwa
One of many views of the complete destruction of houses and other buildings in Hikkaduwa.
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Photo in Hikkaduwa
One of many views of the complete destruction of houses and other buildings in Hikkaduwa.
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Photo in Hikkaduwa
The gap and curved shape of the rock platform and beach at Hikkaduwa focused the tsunami and increased local damage to buildings.
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Photo in Hikkaduwa
View at Hikkaduwa looking parallel to the beach showing zone of local scour and sand deposition. The trench is located to the right of the trees about 30 m inland from the beach.
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Photo in Hikkaduwa
Trench at Hikkaduwa showing the tsunami sand deposit about 23 cm thick. Ground elevation is about 0.5 m and flow depth was about 2.5 m at this site.
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Photo in Hikkaduwa
Simple, durable field tools, such as a hand level and tape, are used to survey topographic profiles and to measure heights of water marks above sea level.
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