Smong Saved Simeulue Islanders

An oral tradition called smong on Simeulue Island taught residents to run for the hills if an earthquake struck and the sea suddenly receded. People recognized the warning signs during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and evacuated fast, and only 7 of about 78,000 residents died. On Indonesia’s mainland, roughly 60 km away, communities had largely lost that tradition, and far more people stayed near the coast. As a result, over 170,000 people died.

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