Banda Aceh is the provincial capital and largest city of Aceh, Indonesia, located on the island of Sumatra. On December 26, 2004, one of the deadliest natural disasters in modern history, the Indian Ocean earthquake, struck off the western coast of Sumatra. The earthquake and subsequent tsunamis reportedly killed over 285,000 people around the rim of the Indian Ocean. Banda Aceh was the closest major city to the earthquake's epicentre.