2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami
Place Analysis
What caused the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami?
On December 26, 2004 an undersea earthquake, with a 9.1 magnitude rating, hit just off the coast of the Indonesian Island Sumatra (Britannica, 2023). Roughly 18 miles below the ocean floor along a reverse fault in the Sunda trench where the Indian plate subducts, or moves below, the Burma plate, the length of the rupture was roughly 800 miles, similar in length to California (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce , 2023). Earthquakes are measured on a Richter scale from 1-10, 1 indicates minor and 10 indicates major. This earthquake is coined as one of the largest in history. As a result of the earthquake there was a large displacement of water that occurred causing a tsunami. The tsunami moved quickly, arriving in northern Sumatra 30 minutes after the earthquake, in Thailand an hour and a half to two hours after the earthquake, and in Sri Lanka two to three hours after the earthquake (Communications and Publishing , 2014).
Northeast Indian Ocean Tectonic Setting (Communications and Publishing , 2014).
The tsunami has been coined as one of the worst in history and has been deemed as catastrophic. Wave heights varied throughout the region based on location relative to the source earthquake as well as the depth of the ocean, in Northern Sumatra, waves were measured reaching up to 167ft (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce , 2023). There were natural tsunami warnings included the earthquake (close to its source), withdrawal of the sea, and unusually large but not damaging initial waves (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce , 2023). There was no tsunami education or warning system leading up to this event and as a result catastrophic damages occurred including a large amount of lives lost.
Animation of how the 2004 tsunami moved around the world (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce , 2023).
What was the aftermath?
The damages were widespread, causing death and injuries, displaced thousands, destroyed towns, homes, livelihoods, infrastructure, and wrecked coastal areas (Australian Disaster Resilience, n.d). Of the areas that were effected, the worse were, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Thailand and Somalia killing 227,000 people (Australian Disaster Resilience, n.d). Not only was there a loss of life, there was a loss of goods and services as well.
Sri Lanka coastline before and during 2004 Tsunami (NASA, 2004).
The casualties were in high numbers and the economy took a large hit as well. Being one of the major exporters of rice, the areas effected most heavily saw severe damage to their plantations. Over 134 000 hectares of paddy crop farm land in Tamil Nadu were severely affected and India was still facing a $2 million ton loss the following year. (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2005). In the Maldives, there was severe damage to housing and infrastructure in the tourism and fishing sectors, two of the major industries for their economy. Tourism is the largest industry of the country, accounting for some 30% of gross domestic product, or value of goods over a period of time, and the fishery is the second leading sector in the economy with 20% of the total population depending on fisheries as the major income earning activity (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2005).
Aftermath of 2004 tsunami destruction (Avas, 2019).
What relief was provided?
Amid such devastation there were many who rushed to assist those deeply effected by the tsunami. Direct Relief provides disaster relief services worldwide to people who fall victim to natural disasters and aids in development, or advancements, once devastation occurs. Direct Relief assisted in the hardest hit countries including India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia, to provide almost $60 million in humanitarian medical aid, including more than $13.5 million in targeted cash grants and $45.4 million in medicines, nutritional supplies, and equipment (Direct Relief, 2023). There were seven specific response areas: disease prevention; health facility construction and rehabilitation; medical and technical equipment assistance; health and medical services; psycho-social services; shelter; and water and sanitation, examples include rebuilding of fishing villages, and erection of health clinics (Direct Relief, 2023).
Volunteers assisting in cleanup (Cooper, 2018).
References:
Avas. (2019, April 3). All loans relating to tsunami paid off by govt.; remainder pardoned by bank. Avas.mv - Maldives news leader. https://avas.mv/en/62526
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2023, March 28). Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Indian-Ocean-tsunami-of-2004
Communications and Publishing. (2014, December 23). Indian Ocean Tsunami Remembered - Scientists reflect on the 2004 Indian Ocean that killed thousands. Indian Ocean Tsunami Remembered - Scientists reflect on the 2004 Indian Ocean that killed thousands | U.S. Geological Survey. https://www.usgs.gov/news/featured-story/indian-ocean-tsunami-remembered-scientists-reflect-2004-indian-ocean-killed
Cooper, L. (2018, October 3). Indonesia Tsunami: Direct Relief Issues $100,000 Emergency Operating Grant to Local Response Group. Direct Relief. https://www.directrelief.org/2018/10/indonesia-tsunami-direct-relief-issues-100000-emergency-operating-grant-to-local-response-group/
Direct Relief. (2023, April 21). Indian Ocean Earthquake & Tsunami, 2004. https://www.directrelief.org/emergency/south-asian-earthquake-and-tsunami-2004/#:~:text=and%20Tsunami%20Destruction-,Thanks%20to%20a%20generous%20outpouring%20of%20support%20from%20donors%2C%20Direct,more%20than%20%2413.5%20million%20in
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2005, February 18). Food supply and food security situation in countries affected by the Asia tsunami - Indonesia. ReliefWeb. https://reliefweb.int/report/indonesia/food-supply-and-food-security-situation-countries-affected-asia-tsunami#:~:text=Large%20areas%20of%20arable%20land,to%20some%202%20million%20tonnes.
NASA. (2004, December 26). Tsunami strikes Sri Lanka. https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/5125/tsunami-strikes-sri-lanka
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce. (2023, June 12). JetStream Max: 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami | National Oceanic and ... https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/2004tsu_max
Tsunami - Indian Ocean Boxing Day Tsunami, 2004: Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub. Australian Disasters. (n.d.). https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/tsunami-indian-ocean-boxing-day-tsunami-2004/#:~:text=The%20worst%20affected%20countries%20were,%2C%20Seychelles%2C%20Thailand%20and%20Somalia.