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Case Study: The Boxing Day Tsunami (Countries Affected (Indonesia, Sri…
Case Study: The Boxing Day Tsunami
Background Information
The earthquake - the most powerful in the world for 40 years - had its epicentre off the west coast off the Indonesian Island of Sumatra.
As the seabed shook in response to the earthquake a massive column of water rose and split to form two tsunamis, one travelling eastwards towards the Sumatran coast and the other west and north towards Thailand, India and Sri Lanka.
The cause of the earthquake was a sudden slippage along the destructive plate margin where the
Indo-Australian
plate is being subducted beneath the
Eurasian
plate.
The walls of water were up to 30m high.
On
26th December 2004
a massive earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter Scale triggered huge tsunamis that swept along the unprepared coastlines of the Indian Ocean.
Primary Effects
Without warning, walls of water up to 30m high surged onshore sweeping away trees, buildings and cars.
Fishing vessels were swept hundreds of metres onshore to be dumped incongruously on street pavements and against main road shop fronts.
Over 5 million people in some of the most remote and poorest parts of the world were left homeless without adequate food, water or sanitation.
294,000 people were killed or were missing.
Cars and buildings were piled high against surviving buildings. In Sri Lanka, an express train was washed off its tracks and 600 people were killed.
Secondary Effects
Rivers and harbours choked with bloated bodies decomposing in the tropical sun, half-covered bodies by the roadside waiting for someone to claim them and children with terrible injuries turning gangrenous lying on hospital corridors.
Truckloads of corpses being dumped into hurriedly dug holes in the ground in Indonesia and stacks of unidentifiable bodies burning in Hindu funeral pyres in Sri Lanka.
Long Term Effects
Diseases such as malaria and cholera spread.
With the lack of sanitation, water-borne diseases leading to diarrhoea lead to many deaths, particularly among the young.
Lack of food and shelter are problems that were faced by people.
The fishing communities had no boats and the economic communities surrounding them were deserted.
Responses
Short Term Responses
Plane-loads of emergency supplies (bottled water, food, medical supplies and shelter) were being flown in to the affected countries from all over the world.
In many areas local communities were cut off and had to help themselves.
The authorities ordered quick burial or burning of the dead to avoid the spread of disease.
Charity relief agencies and foreign governments started a massive recovery programme. By 31st December the UK public alone had donated £32 million and the UK government had committed £50 million. Globally, over £700 million had been committed by the end of the year (7 days).
Long Term Responses
Reconstruction is still taking place.
International scale: An Indian Ocean Tsunami warning system has now been set up.
Local scale: some small-scale sustainable development projects have been set up by charities to aid recovery and help local people help themselves to rebuild and set up small businesses.
Why were the Indian Ocean tsunamis of 2004 so devastating?
The coastal communities in countries such as Indonesia and Sri Lanka were unaware of the dangers posed by tsunami and completely unprepared to cope.
Most of the island chains in the Indian Ocean are flat and low-lying. As a consequence, the tsunami rolled well inland bringing widespread destruction to vast swathes of the coastline and inundating entire islands.
Much of the Indian Ocean coast is densely populated. Large numbers of people were at risk from the tsunamis.
Many of the countries affected by the tsunamis, such as Indonesia and Sri Lanka, are extremely poor. They did not have the necessary emergency supplies, procedures or infrastructures to cope with a disaster of this scale and needed to rely heavily on foreign assistance.
Unlike the Pacific Basin, there is no early warning system for the Indian Ocean. This is due to the infrequency of such events in the area.
Despite the lack of a recognised early warning system, agencies across the world did record the earthquake and were able to predict the generation of tsunamis. Yet, despite having several hours to respond, there were no effective warnings issued to those countries in the path of the giant waves.
Countries Affected
Indonesia
Sri Lanka
Thailand
India
Malaysia
Seychelles
Bangladesh
Kenya
Tanzania
Madagascar
South Africa
Burma
Somalia