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	2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami is a former featured article. Please see the links under Article milestones below for its original nomination page (for older articles, check the nomination archive) and why it was removed.
	This article appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page as Today's featured article on June 12, 2006.
Article milestones Date Process Result January 6, 2005 Featured article candidate Not promoted February 12, 2005 Featured article candidate Not promoted May 12, 2006 Featured article candidate Promoted October 13, 2008 Featured article review Demoted August 9, 2017 Good article nominee Not listed Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on December 26, 2006, December 26, 2007, December 26, 2008, December 26, 2012, December 26, 2016, and December 26, 2024. Current status: Former featured article

Let's solve the issue of whether or not the official value of 09.1 MAG should be in the range.

You may add the text "The official 9.1 MAG estimate by USGS appears to be currently out of date". Carefully compare the MAG estimates from the sources USGS and Duputel et al. (2012) and you should be able to find the discrepancy. Beluga732 (talk) 23:57, 15 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

But how did the 9.2 MAG estimate from Duputel get revised to 9.1 by USGS? Beluga732 (talk) 23:58, 15 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

As I stated above, the initial contact from the USGS pointed out that the only thing they took from Duputel et al. (2012) was the moment tensor. The USGS page gives the source of the magnitude M_w 9.1 under "Origin" as "USGS National Earthquake Information Center, PDE", so definitely not Duputel. As to why they put the text "Official Magnitude Reference:" next to the Duputel et al. reference, that's the thing that I'm still waiting to hear back about. This is not a satisfactory situation, but there's not a lot we can do. Mikenorton (talk) 21:41, 16 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Find the better option:

Keep the rating of MAG for the 2040 Indian Ocean earthquake at 9.2-9.3

Change the rating of MAG back to 9.1-9.3

• • Hint: The initial contact from the USGS pointed out that the only thing they took from Duputel et al. (2012) was the moment tensor. The USGS page gives the source of the magnitude M_w 9.1 under "Origin" as "USGS National Earthquake Information Center, PDE", so it's definitely not Duputel. As to why they put the text "Official Magnitude Reference:" next to the Duputel et al. reference, that's the thing that you're still waiting to hear back about.** Beluga732 (talk) 15:52, 18 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

And...you just jumped to conclusion with this edit. Dora the Axe-plorer (explore) 04:05, 20 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Moment magnitude (M_w) is a scale used to measure the size of earthquakes, primarily based on the seismic moment, which is the energy released during the earthquake. On the other hand, the moment tensor is a mathematical representation of the forces that drive the rupture of an earthquake. Beluga732 (talk) 22:09, 20 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Let's change the MAG to 9.1–9.3 for now. [end of discussion] Beluga732 (talk) 22:10, 20 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Beluga732 the discussion has not been satisfactory, you do not get to impose your own feelings without an agreement with other editors on the matter. It is your WP:Burden to make sure everyone else agrees 2 extend the range. Your entire basis for arguing is an email correspondence from Mike—that's incomplete. Dora the Axe-plorer (explore) 00:57, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Additional changes to the article and you will be reported to the administrators Dora the Axe-plorer (explore) 00:58, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The official moment magnitude (Mw) rating is 9.1, as cited by the USGS and recognized by global seismological agencies (e.g., GCMT, ISC-GEM). This value is based on standardized seismic moment calculations and is widely accepted in academic and emergency planning literature.

That said, I fully acknowledge that some recent peer-reviewed studies suggest the energy release may have been equivalent to Mw 9.2–9.3, based on extended rupture and tsunami modeling. These findings are notable and can absolutely be included — but they should be presented as alternative estimates, not as replacements for the official rating.

Per Wikipedia’s policy on reliable sources and neutral point of view, we should clearly differentiate between the official magnitude and newer research findings, without just simply discarding or ignoring the globally accepted value.

If you believe that USGS's official estimate is incomplete or inaccurate, please leave a message in my user talk page. Beluga732 (talk) 21:37, 21 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Please be patient; don't rush to change information without clarification... Dora the Axe-plorer (explore) 01:18, 22 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Apologies for the confusion. I think I figured out my mistake. I didn't scroll down far enough in the USGS website and just relied on a Wilkipedian's email. To correct my mistake, I scrolled down farther to notice that USGS used Duputel's moment tensor instead of their final MAG estimate. And USGS's 9.1 MAG estimate originated from CMT. My bad! Beluga732 (talk) 20:03, 22 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Maybe could you stop changing the 9.1–9.3 MAG range back to 9.2–9.3? I found the "fault" in [official USGS website] to clarify that 9.1–9.3 should be used.

—i forgot to add that— Beluga732 (talk) 00:46, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You are the one who should stop your problematic behaviour Dora the Axe-plorer (explore) 01:06, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

sorry, I just tried to seek consensus with you... Beluga732 (talk) 01:25, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

If you really don't want consensus so bad then...guess we might lose public trust. USGS spent so much hard work analyzing the MAG of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The standard 9.1 MAG estimate by USGS is being used for tsunami warnings, tectonic plate research, catalogs, building codes, and seismic hazard assessments. I know that many of all those new studies are proposing higher MAG estimates than 9.1, but we don't want our readers to get confused. Beluga732 (talk) 01:34, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

What the USGS does is none of Wikipedia's business. We are not responsible for explaining the discrepancy between the referenced work and what's been extrapolated. There is no consensus yet because it's only two editors in this discussion. Dora the Axe-plorer (explore) 03:57, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Why not let's invite editors to intervene?

It looks like you are infringing WP:NPOV.

Why you don't want 9.1? Beluga732 (talk) 19:54, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Would you like to get an "admin" or a "bot" so that it can intervene? Beluga732 (talk) 20:02, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Nothing to intervene, you just need a consensus. And btw what in the world compelled you to edit my own user page? Are those warnings not enough to deter you from being disruptive? Dora the Axe-plorer (explore) 03:56, 24 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I am just trying to fix your grammar. Grammar mistakes are not so professional. I'm not trying to disrupt this community, nor vandalizing it. Beluga732 (talk) 21:23, 24 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Well, don't. Nobody asked you 2 do that... Dora the Axe-plorer (explore) 00:17, 25 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Outdenting to make navigation easier. I just checked the latest version of the ISC-GEM catalogue, which gives M_w 9.31. I also came across Hayes et al. (2020), a USGS publication titled "Seismicity of the Earth 1900–2018", which gives M_w 9.2 for this earthquake. Why the ANSS (an organisation that includes both the USGS and many other US groups - we tend to call them the USGS but that's not strictly true) still persists with 9.1, we can't speculate. The problem is how exactly to express the magnitude uncertainty. Note that this is not a dispute, just a difference of opinion between groups of scientists, possibly even within a single organisation, potentially at different times. Mikenorton (talk) 21:09, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

To repeat my previous thoughts on this (see top of page) "The most recent papers that set out to estimate magnitude (amongst other things) are Okal & Stein (2009) and Fujii et al. (2021). Okal & Stein confirm their earlier estimate of 9.3. Fujii et al. use tsunami data to invert for fault slip distribution and this gives a 9.2 magnitude, up from the 9.1 that they had previously calculated. In summary, 9.2–9.3 seems a fair range to have in the infobox." I would add that 9.2–9.3 would also be appropriate for the lead section. Other values are already mentioned in the "Earthquake" section. Mikenorton (talk) 21:20, 23 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Dora the Axe-plorer Under the summary table’s prompt for the “Magnitude” parameter that says “Get the initial reported magnitude from the USGS-ANSS site.”, you are asked to include USGS’s official value.

If you keep reverting the infobox prompt's compliance in any matter, including pressing [UNDO], then you could be perceived as disruptive. Beluga732 (talk) 17:38, 2 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Beluga732 Wikipedia is not obligated to follow USGS, just like any other resource on the internet. Dora the Axe-plorer (explore) 17:50, 2 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

hmmm...bye bye D0R@ Beluga732 (talk) 17:53, 2 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It is a template suggestion, not an obligation or editing policy. I do not have to follow that comment. If you continue this immature attitude, you may blocked from editing. Dora the Axe-plorer (explore) 23:40, 2 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

🤯 Beluga732 (talk) 12:42, 3 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

In the table template, it prompts you to:

"Get the initial reported magnitude from the USGS-ANSS site." Beluga732 (talk) 13:25, 1 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

In the days after the earthquake I remember having seen some great pictures of the seabed displacement, with a sharp angled upthrust of several meters, taken with some deepwater research vessel? I think the article would benefit from these pictures, as you will immediately understand the source of the tsunami. Never ever have we seen such a clear picture of catastrophic seabed lift. I searched on the web but I couldn't find them, but surely there are specialist who have them. A minor point: considering most deaths are in remote area's and are therefore estimates, is seems very strange to give it as an exact number, I would round it off to the nearest thousand (it is probably in a range op +/- several thousands). Codiv (talk) 13:10, 3 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

4th Image is not a 2004 tsunami memorial. It is a 1942 memorial related to the quit India movement. 2001:FB1:10D:D1AB:B9C5:3B1E:5436:5E02 (talk) 01:12, 4 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure which image you're referring to? If it's the one on the right (the fifth in the infobox), the text does seem to be about the tsunami and not 1942. --Paul_012 (talk) 05:28, 4 August 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 2 September 2025 and 21 December 2025. Further details are available on the course page. Peer reviewers: BookReader19.

— Assignment last updated by Allieosh (talk) 19:31, 2 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]