December 26:

2004 : Tsunami wreaks havoc on Southeast Asia

On the day after Christmas in 2004, a massive undersea
earthquake occurs just off the coast of Indonesia at a
few minutes before 8 a.m. local time. With a magnitude
of 9.3, the quake was the most powerful of the last
40 years and the second largest earthquake in recorded
history. It set off a deadly tsunami that, in the
final estimate, killed an estimated 230,000 people and
wreaked untold devastation on a wide swath of
coastline from Somalia on the east African coast to
Sumatra in Southeast Asia.

While most earthquakes last for only a few seconds, it
is reported that the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, as it
is known to the scientific community, lasted almost
ten minutes, triggering other earthquakes as far away
as Alaska and causing the entire planet to move at
least a few centimeters. The epicenter of the
earthquake was 100 miles west of Sumatra, at the
western end of the area known as the "Ring of Fire"
for its intense seismic activity. That region has been
home to more than 80 percent of the world's largest
earthquakes. Since 1900, when accurate measurements
began to be made, only three or four earthquakes have
rivaled the Sumatra-Andaman in power.

It is estimated that the quake caused the sea bed of
the Indian Ocean to rise almost 10 feet, causing seven
cubic miles of water to be displaced. The resulting
tsunami (from the Japanese words for "harbor" and
"waves") sent waves of up to 100 feet crashing into
the shores of the Indian Ocean, hitting Somalia,
Indonesia, Sumatra, Sri Lanka, southern India, and
Thailand, and flooding a series of islands, including
the Maldives. In deep water, tsunami waves are barely
noticeable and mostly harmless, but in the shallow
water near coastlines, tsunamis slow down and form
large destructive waves.

Despite scientists reporting the quake about 15
minutes after it struck, there was no tsunami warning
system in place in the Indian Ocean with which to
track possible tsunamis. A warning system in the
Pacific Ocean--where most tsunamis occur--has proven
successful in minimizing deaths from tsunamis since it
was installed in the mid-1950s. However, the warning
systems are difficult and expensive to set up and,
despite some requests for aid, one had never been
built in the Indian Ocean, located in a relatively
poor part of the world.

Within 30 minutes, the tsunami had hit Sumatra and,
within two hours, it had battered the coasts of
Thailand, Sri Lanka, and southern India. Despite the
time lag, the vast majority of victims had no idea
that the tsunami was on the way. Although initial news
reports severely underestimated the death toll, it
became clear within days that the tsunami had created
a disaster of unprecedented proportions--killing an
estimated 230,000 people and leaving more than a
million homeless. Thousands--most likely swept out to
sea--will never be found. It has been reported that
one third of the victims were children, due to both
the region's demographics and children's relative
inability to protect themselves. The tsunami also
killed more women than men, a statistic that is
chalked up to the fact that more men may have been
working out at sea in deep water, where they were
safer. In addition to natives of the region, an
estimated 9,000 people from outside the area, mainly
Europeans, were killed while on vacation at the
region's resorts.

Although there were no official government warnings of
the impending disaster, some communities were able to
read nature's signs and knew to evacuate. On the
Indonesian island of Simeulue, the oral tradition of
the native islanders contained references to a tsunami
that occurred in 1907 and the incidents that preceded
it. They recognized the receding tide that followed
the earthquake as a sign of a coming tsunami and
retreated to higher ground, surviving the massive
waves.

Most, however, were not so lucky. Despite substantial
relief efforts, with public and private aid to the
affected areas totaling in the billions of dollars, it
will take decades or longer for the shattered
infrastructures and economies of the affected regions
to be rebuilt. As part of their response to the
disaster, the United Nations is currently planning the
implementation of a tsunami warning system for the
Indian Ocean. Scientists believe that other large
earthquakes are likely in the area of the sea floor
near the epicenter of the Sumatra-Andaman quake.

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