CNN —Here is some background information about the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. On December 26, 2004, an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 9.1 struck the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Material losses in the Indian Ocean region were $10 billion. The December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was caused by slippage of about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) of the boundary between the India and Burma plates off the west coast of northern Sumatra. The aftershocks were distributed along the plate boundary from the epicenter to near Andaman Island.

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