Living History: Survivors Speak Out about the 2000 Banggai Tsunami in Indonesia

A new initiative by UNESCO and the Indonesian agency for Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics (BMKG), documents the story of survivors and eyewitnesses of the 4th May 2000 Tsunami in Banggai, Indonesia.

The 7.6 Mw earthquake that generated the tsunami happened at 12:21 noon local time, with the epicenter around 38 km Northeast of the Salakan city of the Banggai Island District, Indonesia. A 3m tsunami hits several villages on the tip of Eastern part of Central Sulawesi and its surrounding islands. The earthquake and tsunami caused 54 deaths, more than 264 injuries, and destroyed at least 23.000 houses.

Under the partnership agreement of UNESCO and BMKG, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO and its Indian Ocean Tsunami Information Center (IOTIC) documented 72 eyewitness and survivor accounts from 7 villages (Ponding-ponding, Palam, Bolonan, Kandek, Dodung, Kalumbatan, and Kayutanyo) in 3 districts (Banggai, Banggai islands, and Banggai Sea).

The initiative is framed around the project Preserving Past Tsunami Information for Future Preparedness, supported by the local Disaster Management Offices of the affected communities. The testimonial collection activities took place between 29 July - 6 August 2022.

These efforts complement a global push to ensure there is video documentation of eyewitnesses and/or survivors' stories of tsunamis that happened prior to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. 

UNESCO and BMKG have documented eyewitnesses and survivors story of the 1945 Makran tsunami, the 1950 Ambon tsunami, the 1938-1968-2018 Central Sulawesi tsunamis, the 1992 Flores tsunami, the 1994 Banyuwangi tsunami, and the 1996 Biak tsunami. 

These living heritage preservation efforts will continue in the next few years, complemented by  public awareness education booklets, and edited videos that will be made available for the public online and through social media.

Find out more: (https://iotic.ioc-unesco.org/).