At Phuket province, the island province's western beaches were struck by the tsunami. At Patong Beach, a tourist mecca, the tsunami first arrived as a small flood, which swept away cars and unexpected people. About 10 minutes later, the sea receded for a while before the tsunami arrived again as a large wall of water looming over the skyline and flooding the coast. Another video from Kamala Beach showed the tsunami flooding the ground floor of a restaurant sweeping away an elderly couple. On Karon Beach, Kamala Beach and Kata Beach, the tsunami came in like a surging flood inland carrying people and cars. On some locations, a coastal road was built which was higher than the shore, protecting a hotel which was behind it. On the east coast of Phuket Island, the tsunami height was about 2 m. In one river mouth, many boats were damaged. The tsunami moved counter-clockwise around Phuket Island, as was the case at Okushiri Island in the 1993 Hokkaido earthquake. According to interviews, the second wave was the largest. The tsunami heights were and the inundated depth was about . The tsunami surprised many tourists at Koh Racha Yai, where it flooded the resorts. About 250 people perished directly by the tsunami.