Calang, the capital of the Aceh Jaya district of the special territory (daerah istimewa) of Aceh, on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia, with a population of about 12,000, was reported to have "vanished completely leaving only scattered shards of concrete" as a result of the tsunami produced by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Only about 30 per cent of the townspeople have survived.
The trail of destruction left by the tsunami extends two kilometers inland from the coast. Whole hills have been washed away.
The township, a former Indonesian Military (TNI, Tentara Nasional Indonesia) stronghold, will be relocated inland according to Indonesian Welfare Minister Alwi Shihab.
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