Earth Observatory of Singapore

Home to more than 50 million people, Myanmar is shaped like a giant kite with a long tail that sweeps down along the Andaman Sea.

Beneath the surface, invisible dangers affect Myanmar’s growing population, making it one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. In the north, mountain ranges mark the northeast limit of the Indian tectonic plate, which has been colliding with the southern edge of the Eurasian plate for tens of millions of years. It is this interaction that has helped push...

Studies focused on tectonic activity along the Sumatran Fault zone (SFZ), which traverses the entire 1900-km length of Sumatra, are still lacking. The SFZ is segmented and the slip rate varies for each segment, but rates are poorly known, particularly at the southern end of the SFZ.

In 2004, a devastating tsunami struck coastlines around the Indian Ocean. In a study of the long-term recovery of the city of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, we found that reconstruction aid provided mostly near the coast, combined with many people's preferences to move to safer areas instead, has had the unintended consequence whereby the poor have become disproportionately exposed to coastal hazards.

SuGAr has been observing surface deformation in Sumatra since 2002. The long time series are now a treasure trove of interesting signals and questions, and are providing us with a great opportunity to examine changes in time and space in deformation patterns related to the Sumatra subduction zone. In the last few years we have installed a large number of new stations, all with various scientific questions in mind.