2009 earthquakes in Sumatra: The use of L-band interferometry in a SAR-hostile environment

On September 30th, 2009, a major earthquake of magnitude 7.6 occurred near the west coast of Sumatra close to the city of Padang. On October 1st a significant aftershock (magnitude 6.6) occurred 270 km away. The casualties are estimated at 1200. This earthquake comes at a time when seismic activity in the region is particularly high. The purpose of this paper is to show for an earthquake occurring in such regions how L-band interferometry can contribute to both damage assessment and a better understanding of the underlying geological phenomena.