Les ethnies d'Aceh face au séisme et au tsunami du 26 décembre 2004

The 26 december 2004 earthquake and tsunami unfairly hit the different ethnic groups of Aceh, Indonesia. 170 000 Aceh and Minangkabau people died in the Northern tip of Sumatra while only 44 Simeulue people passed away in the neighbouring Simeulue island located near the earthquake epicentre. Such a difference in the death toll does not lie in th enature of the hazard but in different human behaviours and ethnic contexts. Th present study draws on a contextual framework of analysis where people behaviour in the face of natural hazard is deeply influenced by the cultural, social, economic and political context. Questionnaire-based surveys among affected communities, key informants interviews and literature reviews show that the people of Simeulue detected the tsunami very early and then escaped to the mountains. On the other hand, Aceh and Minangkabau people, respectively in the cities of Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, did not anticipate the phenomenon and were caught by the waves. The different behaviours of the victims have been commanded by their experience of previous phenomena as well as by their capacity to protect themselves in facing the tsunami. People behaviours and the capacity to protect oneself are rooted in a deep tangle of intricatefactors which include the armed conflict that has been storming the province since the 1970s, the historical and cultural heritage and the national political economy system. This paper finally argues that the uneven impact of the 26 december 2004 arthquake and tsunami in Aceh lies in the different daily life conditions of the ethnic groups struck by the disaster