Visit to Aceh Tsunami Museum

Aceh Tsunami Museum, built in 2009 (five years after the tsunami)  is located at Jalan Banda Aceh. Its existence is to  inform the public regarding the tsunami which hit Aceh in 2004. Its building is unique in its physical design and beautiful too. 

Once inside, you can get information on tsunami and its impact on Aceh via its physical model (pre and post tsunami), colorful displays, videos, writing on the walls,  names of the dead, name of contributors  from other countries who help and donate and many more. Those without geography or geology background can understand how tsunami occurs and why it occurs.

It is estimated more than 300,000 death resulted from this tsunami. Some were found and buried and thousands were missing. Mass burial sites scattered around the city. Thousands of properties were destroyed and some were not reconstructed due to the missing owner and now remained either as vacant land or agriculture land.

Many nations came and helped. Now, Aceh has 7 evacuation centres around the communities. The research centre was formed with the help of Japanese government and also functions as evacuation centre.

Those who are already in Aceh and wish to know more about tsunami and its impact to Aceh township and her people, you must visit this museum. It has lots of information. I enjoyed my visit to this museum. Next to the museum near the entrance, there is a gift shop where you can buy products and souvenirs of Aceh.

External of the Museum

Inside the museum, you can look at the computer terminals depicting information

Names of the dead

A circular column where names of the dead are portrayed and this chamber also has Quran recitation

Names of the known dead

One of rock balls (part of the overall design)

Visitors listening to the Presentation by the museum staff

Watching the video presentation in the  room

Visitors inside the Museum

Model of the Museum

Shipped that stranded

Visualisation of Tsunami waves and people were running

One of Tsunami's survivors, now become the speaker of the Museum

Helicopter used during tsunami geohazard

Visitors (my team)