Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004

1. A Project by Tony K Raj
Slaying Indian Ocean

2. Indian Ocean Tsunami
Indian Ocean tsunami, hit several countries of South and Southeast
Asia in December 2004. On December 26, 2004, at 7:59 am local time,
an undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 9.3 struck off the coast
of the Indian Ocean the waves had reached a height of 30 meter. It is
the third largest earthquake ever recorded. It lasted for almost 10
minutes. Indonesia was the hardest hit-country followed by India and
Sri Lanka. It killed more than 2.8 lac people in 14 countries.

3. The Effects
Natural disasters can effect everyone, everywhere. Even if it didn’t
happen in your state or area, the cost effects the nation as a whole.
More than 1 lac people went missing, several non-Asian tourists in the
region also were reported dead or missing. It killed more than 2.5 lac
people in a single day, and leaving more than 1.7 million homeless. The
energy released was 3,000 times that of the first atomic bomb, sudden
release of energy caused the earth to stop its rotation for almost 3
seconds.

4. Effects on IndiaEffects on India
 Affected states and Union territories :-
Andaman and Nicobar islands, Pondicherry,
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh
 Coastal area affected – 2700 km
 Deaths occurred – 40,000 (approx)
 Total financial cost – US$7.8 billion

5. Effects on Fishing Industry
 Greatest damage was suffered by the fishing industry .
 More than 1 lac boats were damaged or lost .
 Most of them lost their homes .
 Most of the fishermen in affected areas lost their fishing nets .

6. Helping Out
Helping hand came from all over the world. Charity funds were
organized in large amounts. Nations all over the world provided over
US$4 billion in aid for damaged regions. Organizations like UNO, World
Bank, Euro Nations and various social groups came forward in relief
work. China donated US$8.7 million from China's Ministry of Civil
Affairs and Red Cross Society of China. Obama has set US$850 million
for India.

7. Short term Responses
Bodies were buried in mass graves to help prevent the spread of
diseases. Over US$8 billion was provided by Governments and NGO’s
in the aid effort and to help with reconstruction. Up to 5 million people
had to be relocated into temporary refugee camps and had to be
provided with shelter, food and water. It took months to simply clear the
debris before rebuilding could start again.

8. Long term Responses
The Indian Government decided to relocate the people from refugee
camps straight into new homes. The building of these new home took a
lot longer than expected due to the lack of building materials and
destruction of main transport routes. Now tsunami early warning
system has now been installed in the Indian Ocean at a cost of US$20
million.

9. Secondary effects of the Tsunami
Diseases such as cholera spread due to the lack of clean water and
sanitation in the refugee camps killing an estimated 1.5 lac. Incomes
were lost due to the destruction of fishing boats and damage to the
ocean bed. Loss of foreign income from tourism was significant in
India. Emotional and Psychological impacts on the survivors and aid
workers. Land disputes broke out as documents were lost in the
devastation and in some cases land was destroyed by erosion from the
wave.

10. Why was it so Devastating
It was devastating because it happened in such a short pace of time
and with practically no warning. It meant nobody had time to prepare
for it and get to safety. Also it was thought that it would only hit some
countries. But it changed course and had lots of countries that were
not expecting it at all. Tsunami hit manly developing countries in the
densely populated areas. Also then buildings in the densely populated
areas weren’t properly built so many of the buildings collapsed in the
rushing water.

11. Conclusion
Tsunami like any other natural disasters is inevitable, the impacts can
be disastrous. Seeing its monstrous power of destruction, mitigation
measures should be taken especially in coastal area that are prone to
that catastrophe. Even though India did not suffer as much as its
neighboring countries, preparation should be made by implementing
various prevention measures adopting early warning system as well as
improving the efficiency and preparedness of its emergency response
team in case of emergency.