Boxing Day Tsunami Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004

A quarter of a million people died. Two million people were made homeless. People were swept away in the waters, which arrived rapidly and with little warning. Thirteen countries were affected, the worst being Indonesia. Indonesia was hit by the tsunami first. Fourty-five minutes later the tsunami reached Thailand. Mangrove swamps helped to act as a barrier to reduce the energy of the water in some areas. Short-term aid, such as water purification tablets, temporary housing and medical supplies

were given from international countries. Islands reliant on tourism and fishing, such as the Maldives, had to rebuild their industries. An early warning system between countries surrounding the Indian Ocean has been set up.

Case Study: Boxing Day TsunamiIndonesia =

• 236,169 people dead and missing (70% of coastal population)

• 400,000 displaced

Kenya =

• 1 person killed

• Had time to escape

Boxing Day, 2004 Tsunami

• 9.0-9.3 magnitude

• 100x stronger than Kobe earthquake

• Floor of ocean heaved by 15metres

• Indonesia hit 15mins from origin

• 17metre high wave

Sri Lanka =

• 31,147 people dead and missing

• 400,000 people lost jobs

• Homes, coastline, crops, fishing boats destroyed

• 861,000 displaced

• Rapid coastal urbanization destroyed

• Economy relied on tourism and fishing

• 56% children died

• 2x women died than men

• Levels of education meant that educated generally live in low-risk locations

Comparison with other disasters

• 80% of flood deaths in Australia were men

Environmental change of tsunami

• Mangrove clearance in Thailand and Sri Lanka for tourism reasons, Mangroves are natural barriers, absorb waves, damage greatly reduced in areas with mangrove swamps, beach forest and coral reefs

BBC NEWS More than 200,000 people were killed in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami

Papers in India are remembering the Indian Ocean tsunami that brought death and destruction to people 10 years ago.

More than 200,000 people were killed when an underwater earthquake set off massive waves across the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004.

"While Indonesia bore the brunt of the waves' whiplash, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand too suffered enormously," the Deccan Herald says.

Papers say that people who lost their loved ones in India's coastal areas are still continuing efforts to rebuild their lives.

"Much of the misery in India befell the coastal fishing hamlets in Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts in Tamil Nadu (southern state). These areas lay centred on the path of the tsunami," the Hindustan Times reports.

While normalcy has been restored, the landscape in these areas "sometimes points to the tragedy's legacy".

"Thatched huts have given way to housing clusters named Tsunami Colony or Tsunami Village, fishing markets have been built further inland and sea walls have turned the once-bustling beaches dreary and barren," the paper says.

The paper reports about a couple in Nagapattinam who lost both their children in the tsunami.

"I had just washed clothes and putting out them out to dry. When I turned around, my home was gone. We never found the bodies," the paper quotes the father as saying.

Alert system

Most papers, meanwhile, feel India was not prepared for a natural disaster of such scale in 2004, but agree that precautionary measures have now improved.

"As it marks the 10th anniversary of the devastating tsunami …India is looking back with satisfaction in having created a tsunami warning system that has practically ruled out any large-scale loss of human lives by any similar event in the future," The Indian Express says.

The paper says India has set up a warning system to detect tsunami

"This is done by Bottom Pressure Recorders (BPRs) that India has installed in the ocean about 3,500 metres below the surface near the fault-lines where earthquakes are generated. The BPRs record the pressure of water the above them," it explains.

The Deccan Herald agrees that "state-of-the-art" tsunami warning system is in place but warns "serious gaps exist in the last mile - tsunami alerts sent by emails, SMS, etc do not reach coastal populations that do not have access to such technologies" Encouraging more frequent mock drills, the paper warns against government's "lax approach to natural disasters".

A decade ago, one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded struck off the coast of Indonesia, triggering a tsunami that swept away entire communities around the Indian Ocean.

About 228,000 people were killed as a result of the 9.1 magnitude quake and the giant waves that slammed into coastlines on 26 December 2004.

The violent upward thrust of the ocean floor at 07:58 local time (00:58 GMT) displaced billions of tonnes of seawater, which then raced towards shorelines at terrifying speeds.

The waves stripped vegetation from mountain sides hundreds of metres inland, capsized freighters and threw boats into trees. The estimated cost of the damage was just under $10bn (£6.4bn).

Ten years on, many coastal towns and villages have rebuilt their communities and lives. The shores of Indonesia and Thailand, left ravaged by the tsunami, appear transformed.

Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia

Teunom, Aceh Jaya district, Indonesia

Ko Phi Phi, Thailand

How the wave spread: 26 December 2004After the quake struck, the resulting tsunami radiated across the Indian Ocean, from Indonesia to

Sri La nka and beyond.

The quake ruptured the greatest fault length of any recorded, spanning a distance of an estimated 1,500km (900 miles) - longer than the US state of California.

The rupture started beneath the quake's epicentre and progressed northward along the fault at about 2km/sec (1.2 miles/second) - lasting about 10 minutes - according to the Tectonics

Observatory at the California Institute of Technology The length of the rupture meant that the waves reached a wider geographical area - as far afield as Mexico, Chile, and the Arctic.

The waves travelled at speeds of up to 800km/h (500mph).

Computer modelling after the tsunami, estimated that waves had reached a height of almost 20m (65ft) in some areas.

However, scientists investigating damage in Aceh, Indonesia found subsequent evidence that waves had reached 20-30m (65-100ft) in places.

Despite there being several hours between the earthquake and the impact of the tsunami, nearly all the victims were taken completely by surprise. With no adequate warning systems in place, there was no alert issued to people to seek safety.

In the aftermath of the disaster, the  Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation Systemwas formed to detect seismological changes and provide warnings of approaching waves. However, on the 10th anniversary of the disaster, risk experts and UN officials have warned weaknesses remain in the system, particularly rear. Ding the

communication of warnings at local level.

The Indian Ocean Tsunami made landfall on 26th December 2004. It was unprecedented in its scale, destroying parts of Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Thailand and resulting in over 250,000 deaths within the region.

The involvement of 30 independent national disaster victim identification teams placed a strain on the command structure and process and the necessity to standardize the victim identification process.

The overall scope of the disaster and the large number of deceased was overwhelming.

There was no data management system within Thailand capable of recording the ante mortem and post mortem information on the deceased.

There was pressure either direct or indirect on the various national DVI teams to expedite the identification of their nationals killed in the incident.

The Thai National Police had 3,737 people officially recorded as missing/deceased.

Over 30 different countries lost citizens as a result of the tsunami.