Nighttime lights time series of tsunami damage, recovery, and economic metrics in Sumatra, Indonesia.

On 26 December 2004, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake off the west coast of the northern Sumatra, Indonesia resulted in 160,000 Indonesians killed. We examine the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) nighttime light imagery brightness values for 307 communities in the Study of the Tsunami Aftermath and Recovery (STAR), a household survey in Sumatra from 2004 to 2008.