THE INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI

The Indian Ocean Tsunami, also known as the Boxing Day tsunami occured on 26th December, 2004.

WHAT CAUSED THE DEADLY TSUNAMI?

• The event was a follow up of a strong earthquake with the magnitude of 9.1, located to the north of Sumatra, Indonesia.
• Caused by 2 plates converging, in which the Indian tectonic plate slid under the Burma plate and caused a fault line of 1,000km.

THE EARTHQUAKE THAT OCCURRED

• It only lasted for 10 minutes but caused the Earth to vibrate up to 1 centimetre
• The Indian plate started moving to the northeast by 5 centimeters every year after the earthquake.
• Clarified as the third biggest earthquake recorded since 1900. Giving the effect of 23,000 atomic bombs.

THE TRIGGER

• The earthquake caused the ocean floor to suddenly rise up till 40 meters triggering the tsunami. The waves of the tsunami traveled across the ocean and countries up to 800km/h, similar to the speed of a jet plane.
• It took the waves at least 15 minutes to 8 hours to reach their first land destinations, depending on how far the land is or how deep the sea level is.

THE IMPACTS ON HUMANS

• With a total of 14 coastal countries, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and Maldives as the most damaged.
• The height of waves reached up to 15 metres.
• Killed at an estimation of 230,000 people
• The disaster impacted 5 million people

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THE PROCESS OF THE TSUNAMI

HOW?
The Indian Ocean tsunami traveled as much as 5,000 kilometres reaching Africa, arriving with an adequate force to kill people and destroy everything in its path and surroundings.

UNPREPARED SITUATION

• Australia was first to get the alert and sent another warning to a warning centre in Hawaii of the coming disaster but was empty handed of international contacts. (According to Dr Richard Bailey, head of tsunami warning and ocean services from Australia)
• Unfortunately other governments and organisations were also alerted but did not quickly react.

- The total material loss from the tsunami was estimated to waste around $10 billion.
- More than 1.5 million people were left homeless.

INDONESIA
Killed: 128,858
Missing: 37,087
Total killed and missing: 165,945
Homeless: 179,312
Damage costs: $5.5 billion

SRI LANKA
Killed: 23,231
Missing: 12,091
Total killed and missing: 35,322
Homeless: 119,562
Damage costs:$2.2 billion

INDIA
Killed: 12,405
Missing: 3,874
Total killed and missing: 16,279
Homeless: 157,393
Damage costs: $2.1 billion

THAILAND
Killed: 5,395
Missing: 2,817
Total killed and missing: 8,212
Homeless: 4,800
Damage costs: $0.5 billion

MALDIVES
Killed: 82
Missing: 26
Total killed and missing: 108
Homeless: 6,000
Damage costs: $0.4 billion

THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT IMPACTS

• Many debris, chemicals, oil fuels and materials from damages after the tsunami were being largely exposed into the environment.
• Open dumping of wastes was also seen in many affected areas
• Many of the plants were killed by salt water brought from the waves.
• Another damaged component is the coral reefs. Animals and farm animals were killed or lost their habitats.

BEFORE

AFTER

5 YEARS AFTER

DAYS AFTER DISASTER

2014

THEN

KOH RAYA, ANDAMAN ISLANDS, THAILAND

THE SUPPORT

• In 2004, the Australian Government gave $68 million to the surrounding countries to help fund a warning system.
• $716.62 million was publicly donated to the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) to help the affected countries.
• Australia, Indonesia and India are now responsible for alerting others for tsunami warnings in the area

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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