Giritharan, S. Bardhan, S.R. Review how underwater earthquakes, volcanoes, or landslides can generate tsunamis, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Indian-Ocean-tsunami-of-2004, National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Impact of 2004 Tsunami in the Islands of Indian Ocean: Lessons Learned, Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). ", "How do they measure earthquakes from 250 years ago? That's because between 15,000 and 20,000 people lived in Pompeii and Herculaneum, and the majority of them survived Vesuvius' catastrophic eruption. Beyond the heavy toll on human lives, the Indian Ocean earthquake has caused an enormous environmental impact that will affect the region for many years to come. [93], Interviews with local people indicate that they did not feel the earthquake in Taninthayi Division or Ayeyarwaddy Delta. About 600 pilgrims died. The volcanic activity that results as the Indo-Australian Plate subducts the Eurasian Plate has created the Sunda Arc. [46], The tsunami, like all others, behaved differently in deep water than in shallow water. The lack of food, clean water, and medical treatmentcombined with the enormous task faced by relief workers trying to get supplies into some remote areas where roads had been destroyed or where civil war ragedextended the list of casualties. In deep ocean water, tsunami waves form only a low, broad hump, barely noticeable and harmless, which generally travels at high speed of 500 to 1,000km/h (310 to 620mph); in shallow water near coastlines, a tsunami slows down to only tens of kilometres per hour but, in doing so, forms large destructive waves. Other aftershocks of up to magnitude 6.6 continued to shake the region daily for three or four months. After the tsunami, there was some concern that the country might be submerged entirely and become uninhabitable. In addition, the tsunami inflicted damage to the popular resort town of Ao Nang in Krabi Province. The country has a total of 77 tsunamis on record. Many people died including many foreign tourists. Along the coast of Tamil Nadu, the 13km (8.1mi) Marina Beach in Chennai was battered by the tsunami which swept across the beach taking morning walkers unaware. Also, in the minutes preceding a tsunami strike, the sea sometimes recedes temporarily from the coast, which was observed on the eastern earthquake rupture zone such as the coastlines of Aceh, Phuket island, and Khao Lak area in Thailand, Penang island of Malaysia, and the Andaman and Nicobar islands. [82] Most of the people killed were members of the fishing community. The tsunami first struck the eastern coastline and subsequently refracted around the southern point of Sri Lanka (Dondra Head). Tens of thousands were reported dead or missing in Sri Lanka and India, a large number of them from the Indian Andaman and Nicobar Islands territory. Why were so many buildings destroyed in the 2011 Japanese earthquake? The ceremony ended just like any other day. Ten years after the disaster in Southeast Asia, psychologist and veteran diver Yossi Hasson recalls the event that changed his life, and discusses it in writing for the first time. She and her parents warned others on the beach, which was evacuated safely. [50][51] The northern regions of the Indonesian island of Sumatra were hit quickly, while Sri Lanka and the east coast of India were hit roughly 90 minutes to two hours later. He told me: 'This can't be good.'. [82] The inundation distance varied between 1,006500m (3,3011,640ft) in most areas, except at river mouths, where it was more than 1km (0.62mi). That's when I realised something serious had happened. The second and third waves came in 10-minute intervals after the first. What's the least amount of exercise we can get away with? There's new evidence for what happened to people who survived Vesuvius Archaeologist studied tomb inscriptions and matched names to historical records. However, tourists were reluctant to do so for psychological reasons. [143][144] In 2008, a team of scientists working on Phra Thong, a barrier island along the hard-hit west coast of Thailand, reported evidence of at least three previous major tsunamis in the preceding 2,800 years, the most recent from about 700 years ago. Rhodes Elementary School was able to reopen after getting some help from supermodel Petra Nemcova. Over 230,000 people died when the massive waves hit the coasts of the countries . Indonesian officials estimated that the death toll there alone ultimately exceeded 200,000, particularly in northern Sumatras Aceh province. It was the result of an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra that took around 230,000 lives across fourteen countries. As we tried to help more people in the supermarket, I heard from outside that another wave was coming. It displaced the North Pole by 25mm (0.98in). [26] Some examples of significant historical megathrust earthquakes are the 1868 Arica earthquake in Peru and the 1700 Cascadia earthquake in western North America. This may affect rehabilitation work to follow. Jpan survived the earthquake pretty well only they weren't ready for the massive 9.0 tsnami that followed 250,000 people survived the 2004 Sumatra Tsunami. The momentum of the water displaced by tectonic uplift had also dragged massive slabs of rock, each weighing millions of tonnes, as far as 10km (6mi) across the seabed. Weeks after the earthquake, theoretical models suggested the earthquake shortened the length of a day by 2.68 microseconds, due to a decrease in the oblateness of the Earth. Before the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami reached Sri Lanka, many animals, like this elephant, moved to high ground and survived. He missed his family a lot. Funding came from other international agencies and from countries including Finland, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. These tales and oral folklore from previous generations may have helped the survival of the inhabitants. Do you need underlay for laminate flooring on concrete? I told my team: 'What a perfect day to be in the sea. When I woke up again around 10:00, I took my family out for breakfast before I received a phone call from the hospital calling me in for an emergency. Are there tsunami warning systems in the Indian Ocean? [citation needed], The hardest-hit area, Aceh, is a religiously conservative Islamic society and has had no tourism nor any Western presence in recent years due to the insurgency between the Indonesian military and Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Boats are safer from tsunami damage while in the deep ocean ( > 100 m) rather than moored in a harbor. The Indian Ocean Tsunami warning system was formed in early 2005 to provide an early warning of tsunamis for inhabitants around the Indian Ocean coasts. How many people died in the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004? This ripple effect could especially be felt in the inland provinces of Thailand, such as Krabi, which acted as a starting point for many other tourist destinations in Thailand. [164], In the days following the tsunami, significant effort was spent in burying bodies hurriedly due to fear of disease spreading. Answer 3: Tsunamis are generated by waves due to vertical motion of Earth's crust caused by earthquakes. 250,000 people survived the 2004 Sumatra Tsunami. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.19.3 Mw struck with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Moreover, the tsunami was detected by scuba divers around offshore islands like the Similan Islands and the Surin Islands. Indonesia was the worst-hit country, with more than 120,000 dead. The day that changed tsunami science. I went back down after the second wave retreated. [82] Velankanni a sea shore town with a Catholic Basilica and a popular pilgrimage destination was also one of the worst hit by this tsunami that struck at around 9.30 am on that Sunday, when pilgrims who were mostly from Kerala among others were inside the church attending the Malayalam Mass. Because of its enormous energy release and shallow rupture depth, the earthquake generated remarkable seismic ground motions around the globe, particularly due to huge Rayleigh (surface) elastic waves that exceeded 10mm (0.4in) in vertical amplitude everywhere on Earth. The second wave was the strongest. 1400. Indonesia was the worst affected area, with most death toll estimates at around 170,000. According to Oxfam, five million people were affected of which 1.7m were made homeless, half a million were injured and more than 230,000 were killed. This was similar to eyewitness accounts of the tsunami at Banda Aceh. Eyewitnesses described the tsunami as a "black giant", "mountain" and a "wall of water". who survived the 2004 tsunami, and was also filmed in Khao Lak. The environmental impact took a long time and significant resources to assess. Around 289 fatalities were reported in the Horn of Africa, drowned by four tsunami waves. [105] Sweden was the European country most severely affected both in absolute numbers, and by a wide margin when considered in relation to the country's population, with a death toll of 543. [141] Due to multiple factors, there was a 71.6% drop in the number of piracy incidents between 2004 and 2005, from 60 to 17 incidents. The main concern of humanitarian and government agencies was to provide sanitation facilities and fresh drinking water to contain the spread of diseases such as cholera, diphtheria, dysentery, typhoid and hepatitis A and hepatitis B. I continued to sit there waiting to get an emergency call. The tsunami waves wreaked havoc in the densely populated Jogindar Nagar area, situated 13km (8.1mi) south of Campbell Bay. The India Plate meets the Burma Plate (which is considered a portion of the great Eurasian Plate) at the Sunda Trench. According to eyewitness accounts, the tsunami came from the north and south. On March 11, 2011, a man in Klamath River, Calif., died after he was swept away by a second wave while taking pictures of the Japan tsunami, Lopes said. Bangladesh, which lies at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal, had few casualties despite being a low-lying country relatively near the epicentre. [citation needed] Then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated that reconstruction would probably take between five and ten years. In 1782, about 40,000 people are thought to have been killed by a tsunami (or a cyclone) in the South China Sea. [52], Some of the tsunami's energy escaped into the Pacific Ocean, where it produced small but measurable tsunamis along the western coasts of North and South America, typically around 200 to 400mm (7.9 to 15.7in). The locals reported 10 to 12 waves, with the second and third being the highest and most destructive. He didnt want to talk about it in the beginning but after a while he started to talk about what had happened during the tsunami. Slowly, Karl began to open up about the tragedy. [157] The announcement was a false alarm, and the Home Affairs minister withdrew their announcement. [158], The tsunami had a severe humanitarian and political impact in Sweden. It also benefited from the fact that the earthquake proceeded more slowly in the northern rupture zone, greatly reducing the energy of the water displacements in that region. Amateur video recorded at the city of Galle showed a large deluge flooding the city, carrying debris and sweeping away people while in the coastal resort town of Beruwala, the tsunami appeared as a huge brown-orange colored bore which reached the first level of a hotel, causing destruction and taking people unaware. The maximum inundation limit due to tsunami water was about 500m (1,600ft). In February 2005, scientists revised the estimate of the magnitude to 9.0. The tsunami also reached Antarctica, where tidal gauges at Japan's Showa Base recorded oscillations of up to a metre (3ft 3in), with disturbances lasting a couple of days. [56] However, not all tsunamis cause this "disappearing sea" effect. In the hours that followed, a massive tsunami fanned out across the Indian Ocean, killing close to 230,000 people, most in Indonesia. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 killed at least 225,000 people across a dozen countries, with Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, and Thailand sustaining massive damage. Island folklore recounted an earthquake and tsunami in 1907, and the islanders fled to inland hills after the initial shaking and before the tsunami struck. Maldives Report", "Death toll in Asian tsunami disaster tops 159,000", "Asian tsunami death toll passes 144,000", "Tsunami Evaluation Coalition: Initial Findings", "On the weak impact of the 26 December Indian Ocean tsunami on the Bangladesh coast", "The South Sandwich Islands earthquake of 27 June 1929: seismological study and inference on tsunami risk for the southern Atlantic", "YEMEN: Tsunami damage over US$1 million UNEP assessment", "Helping restore the quality of drinking water after the tsunami". The high fatality rate in the area was mainly due to lack of preparation of the community towards a tsunami and limited knowledge and education among the population regarding the natural phenomenon. Edie Fassnidge lost both her mother and sister in the tsunami. [70], The greatest run-up height of the tsunami was measured at a hill between Lhoknga and Leupung, on the western coast of the northern tip of Sumatra, near Banda Aceh, and reached 51m (167ft). Moments later, the ocean floor was exposed as much as 1km (0.62mi) in places, which was followed by massive second and third waves. [57] On Maikhao Beach in north Phuket City, Thailand, a 10-year-old British tourist named Tilly Smith had studied tsunamis in geography at school and recognised the warning signs of the receding ocean and frothing bubbles. The tsunami stranded cargo ships, barges and destroyed a cement mining facility near the Lampuuk coast, where it reached the fourth level of the building. An even higher runup point was measured on a cliff near the town of Eyl, solely on an eyewitness account. how many people survived the 2004 tsunami. The most affected was Prakasham District, recording 35 deaths, with maximum damage at Singraikonda. Additionally, amateur footage recorded in the middle of the city captured an approaching black surge flowing down the city streets, full of debris, inundating them. Proudly powered by WordPress | The south bay opens to the south-east and faces in the opposite direction from the tsunami. Some people survived . The sea was observed to rise suddenly before the onset of the first wave. the earthquake and subsequent tsunami had killed more than 220,000 people . The slip did not happen instantaneously but took place in two phases over several minutes: Finally it hit street level and the water continued to rise. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known by the scientific community as the SumatraAndaman earthquake,[10][11] was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate, and reached a Mercalli intensity up to IX in some areas. bella vista catholic charities housing; wills point tx funeral homes; ptvi triathlon distance; is frankie beverly in the hospital; birria tacos long branch; Click to see full answer. A rise in sea level was observed before the first wave came within 5 minutes of the earthquake. The tsunami surprised many tourists at Koh Racha Yai, where it flooded the resorts. In Malacca, located on the island of Car Nicobar, there were three tsunami waves. Compiling new navigational charts may take months or years. How many U joints does a driveshaft have? Thailand was struck about two hours later despite being closer to the epicentre because the tsunami travelled more slowly in the shallow Andaman Sea off its western coast. Of all the moment released by earthquakes in the 100 years from 1906 through 2005, roughly one eighth was due to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. The survey, conducted using a high-resolution, multi-beam sonar system, revealed that the earthquake had made a considerable impact on the topography of the seabed. play prodigy parent login P.O. (2007). [153][154] The extensive international media coverage of the tsunami, and the role of mass media and journalists in reconstruction, were discussed by editors of newspapers and broadcast media in tsunami-affected areas, in special video-conferences set up by the Asia Pacific Journalism Centre. [101] However, the estimated number of dead and missing in Indonesia were later reduced by over 50,000. Areas with dense coconut groves or mangroves had much smaller inundation distances, and those with river mouths or backwaters saw larger inundation distances. Read about our approach to external linking. From the beginning local people took care of him and then a Swedish family found him., 143 [170] Many charities were given considerable donations from the public. Petra Nemcova, supermodel who survived 2004 Indonesia tsunami, helps rebuild school hit by Hurricane Harvey. He was a painter and it was meant to be the last working day for him before a long break. The shift of mass and the massive release of energy slightly altered the Earth's rotation. The number of deaths currently stands at 68 with 5 people missing. [55] Tsunami detection is not easy because while a tsunami is in deep water, it has little height and a network of sensors is needed to detect it. [82] The worst affected area in Tamil Nadu was Nagapattinam district, with 6,051 fatalities caused by a 5m (16ft) tsunami, followed by Cuddalore district, with many villages destroyed. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. We decided to help only the injured survivors and we finally rescued at least 414 tourists and locals, and transferred them to a more equipped hospital on Phuket. The only other recorded earthquakes of magnitude 9.0 or greater were off Kamchatka, Russia, on 4 November 1952 (magnitude 9.0) and Thoku, Japan (magnitude 9.1) in March 2011. What was the magnitude of the earthquake that caused the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004? [82] Given the enormous power of the tsunami, the fishing industry suffered the greatest. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. There was 10m (33ft) movement laterally and 45m (1316ft) vertically along the fault line. Some believe that the tsunami was divine punishment for lay Muslims shirking their daily prayers or following a materialistic lifestyle. The largest amplitude signals are seismic surface waves that reach the antipode after about 100 minutes. The maximum tsunami wave height of 11m (36ft). We had no place for them so they were wrapped in plastic and white sheets before laying on the ground all over the temple. The highest tsunami wave measured was 4m (13ft) at Vilufushi Island. [67] The second wave was the largest; it came from the west-southwest within five minutes of the first wave. I said the prayer into the microphone, so everyone could hear it. On 9 February 2005, President Bush asked Congress to increase the U.S. commitment to a total of US$950 million. . [134], The impact on coastal fishing communities and the people living there, some of the poorest in the region, has been devastating with high losses of income earners as well as boats and fishing gear. Another factor is that some coasts of Taninthayi Division were protected by the Myeik Archipelago. The sea receded and exposed the seabed, prompting locals to collect stranded fish and explore the area. It does not store any personal data. The deadliest-known earthquake in history occurred in 1556 in Shaanxi, China, with an estimated death toll of 830,000, though figures from this period may not be as reliable. It killed more than 230,000 people, including Wong. Other videos recorded showed that the tsunami appeared like a flood raging inland. One such landslide consisted of a single block of rock some 100m (330ft) high and 2km (1.2mi) long. I saw the Mahidol ship was on its way out from the bay, so we stopped them and asked for help. I noticed the temple ground covered in blood and lymph. Despite a delay of up to several hours between the earthquake and the impact of the tsunami, nearly all of the victims were taken by surprise. Not every earthquake produces large tsunamis: on 28 March 2005, a magnitude 8.7 earthquake hit roughly the same area of the Indian Ocean but did not result in a major tsunami. The military started to bring in containers to keep the bodies in. [20] Splay faults, or secondary "pop up faults", caused long, narrow parts of the seafloor to pop up in seconds. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 1,500-metre-high (5,000ft) thrust ridges created by previous geologic activity along the fault had collapsed, generating landslides several kilometres wide. The waves radiated outwards along the entire 1,600km (1,000mi) length of the rupture (acting as a line source). However, when the seawalls were made of loose stones, the stones were displaced and carried a few metres inland.[79][81][85]. [125] How many people died in the Boxing Day tsunami? Rosie was saved by a stranger. [23][24], Since 1900, the only earthquakes recorded with a greater magnitude were the 1960 Valdivia earthquake (magnitude 9.5) and the 1964 Alaska earthquake in Prince William Sound (magnitude 9.2). Can Nigeria's election result be overturned? [42], In February 2005, the Royal Navy vessel HMSScott surveyed the seabed around the earthquake zone, which varies in depth between 1,000 and 5,000m (550 and 2,730 fathoms; 3,300 and 16,400ft). Earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Indian Ocean, Campbell, Matthew; Loveard, Keith; et al. The magnitude of the earthquake that caused the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 was 9.1. [165], Nations all over the world provided over US$14 billion in aid for damaged regions,[166] with the governments of Australia pledging US$819.9 million (including a US$760.6 million aid package for Indonesia), Germany offering US$660 million, Japan offering US$500 million, Canada offering US$343 million, Norway and the Netherlands offering both US$183 million, the United States offering US$35 million initially (increased to US$350 million), and the World Bank offering US$250 million. The largest run-up measured was at 12.5m (41ft) with inundation distance of 3901,500m (1,2804,920ft) in Yala. The waves receded before the first tsunami with the highest fatality reported from the densely populated Alappad panchayat (including the villages of Cheriya Azhikkal and Azhikkal) at Kollam district, caused by a 4m (13ft) tsunami. Along the Mexican coast, the waves were 30-50 m. Some geologists suggest that the Chicxulub tsunami reached Chicago, Montana, or Canada. At Patong Beach, a popular tourist destination, the tsunami first arrived as a small flood, which swept away cars and surprised people. Wittaya Tantawanich - emergency worker, Patong beach. All of a sudden, we lost the power and we felt the earthquake. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Many tourists and locals can be seen trying to gather fish. So I closed my eyes, prayed, and prepared to die. Also, the spread of solid and liquid waste and industrial chemicals, water pollution and the destruction of sewage collectors and treatment plants threaten the environment even further, in untold ways. As I sat there, I felt the earthquake at around 08:00. After breakfast, we all went to the end of the boat on the deck to watch the intern diving with instructors. Ghosh Roy. As I stepped into the temple, I could smell dead bodies the way I never had before in my life. Yet more than 60,000 people in other countries could have been saved; they would have had at least an hour to move away from the shoreline if they had had some warning. The earthquake was the third-largest ever recorded based upon seismographic measurements, the largest in the 21st century and had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between eight and ten minutes. My son's three friends told me he was missing. The India Plate sinks deeper and deeper beneath the Burma Plate until the increasing temperature and pressure drive volatiles out of the subducting plate. [84] Rescue teams extricated more than 400 bodies from the sand and rocks in the vicinity and large number of unidentified bodies were buried in mass graves. 89. Based on scientific surveys from Ayeyarwaddy Delta through Taninthayi Division, it was revealed that tsunami heights along the Myanmar coast were between 0.42.9m (1ft 4in 9ft 6in). Only the Iraq War was named by as many respondents. [100] An initial report by Siti Fadilah Supari, the Indonesian Minister of Health at the time, estimated the death total to be as high as 220,000 in Indonesia alone, giving a total of 280,000 fatalities. Anthropologists had initially expected the aboriginal population of the Andaman Islands to be badly affected by the tsunami and even feared the already depopulated Onge tribe could have been wiped out. In some cases, there are no warning signs at all: the sea will suddenly swell without retreating, surprising many people and giving them little time to flee. The tsunami in Khao Lak was bigger due to offshore coral reefs and shallow seafloor which caused the tsunami to pile-up. Over the next seven hours, a tsunamia series of immense ocean wavestriggered by the quake reached out across the Indian Ocean, devastating coastal areas as far away as East Africa. The last major tsunami was caused by the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Such approaches to ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction appear to be most successful when local communities are closely involved as stakeholders throughout the process, and when careful attention is paid to the physical conditions of chosen sites to ensure that mangroves can thrive there. Water sanitation and health: WHO technical notes for emergencies. How many people are still missing from tsunami 2004? False tsunami alarm sparks panic in Indian Ocean region. After a pause of about another 100 seconds, the rupture continued northwards towards the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Major damage occurred in two narrow strips of land bound on the west by the Arabian Sea and on the east by the Kerala backwaters. Fellow Indonesian Rahmat Saiful Bahri, also survived the 2004 tsunami and the one hitting the Sulawesi Island on September 28, 2018, after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake. He pointed to the sea and told me there was no water at the beach. In the years since 2004, officials have worked hard to install and improve an Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System. [137], While the tsunami destroyed many of the boats vital to Sri Lanka's fishing industry, it also created a demand for fibreglass-reinforced plastic catamarans in the boatyards of Tamil Nadu. The rising sea water did not enter the shrine, but the receding waters swept away hundreds of pilgrims who were on the beach. As I looked toward the shore of the island, I saw one big wave hit the beach and sweep umbrellas and chairs down into the sea.