[masraum]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

The destruction and loss of life from the tsunamis is something thats hard to get ones head around.

What's as amazing as the amount of damage is the relatively small loss of life in Japan compared to the Indonesian tsunami.

Japan

On 12 September 2012, a Japanese National Police Agency report confirmed 15,883 deaths,[22] 6,146 injured,[23] and 2,654 people missing

The earthquake triggered powerful tsunami waves that reached heights of up to 40.5 metres (133 ft) in Miyako in Tōhoku's Iwate Prefecture,[16][17] and which, in the Sendai area, traveled up to 10 km (6 mi) inland.[18] The earthquake moved Honshu (the main island of Japan) 2.4 m (8 ft) east and shifted the Earth on its axis by estimates of between 10 cm (4 in) and 25 cm (10 in).

Indonesia

killing over 230,000 people in fourteen countries, and inundating coastal communities with waves up to 30 meters (98 ft) high

There are a bunch of factors that would cause the massive difference, the readiness of the area, but the difference is still impressive, more than a 10 fold increase.