 The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known by the scientific community as the
Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, was an undersea earthquake that occurred at
00:58:53 UTC December 26, 2004, with an epicenter off the west coast of
Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake triggered a series of devastating tsunamis
that spread throughout the Indian Ocean, killing large numbers of people and
inundating coastal communities across South and Southeast Asia, including
parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. Although initial estimates
have put the worldwide death toll at over 275,000 with thousands of others
missing, recent analysis compiled lists a total of 229,866 persons lost,
including 186,983 dead and 42,883 missing. The figure excludes 400 to 600
people who are believed to have perished in Myanmar which is more than that
government's official figure of only 61 dead. This catastrophe is one of the
deadliest disasters in modern history. The disaster is known in Asia and in
the international media as the Asian Tsunami, and also called the Boxing Day
Tsunami in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom as it took
place on Boxing Day.
The magnitude of the earthquake was originally recorded as 9.0 on the Richter
scale, but has been upgraded to between 9.1 and 9.3. At this magnitude, it is
the second largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. This earthquake
was also reported to be the longest duration of faulting ever observed,
lasting between 500 and 600 seconds, and it was large enough that it caused
the entire planet to vibrate at least half an inch, or over a centimeter. It
also triggered earthquakes in other locations as far away as Alaska.
The earthquake originated in the Indian Ocean just north of Simeulue island,
off the western coast of northern Sumatra. The resulting tsunami devastated
the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and other countries with
waves up to 30 m. It caused serious damage and deaths as far as the east coast
of Africa, with the furthest recorded death due to the tsunami occurring at
Port Elizabeth in South Africa, 8,000 km away from the epicenter.
The plight of the many affected people and countries prompted a widespread
humanitarian response. In all, the worldwide community donated more than US$7
billion in humanitarian aid to those affected by the earthquake.
Countries Affected
The earthquake and resulting tsunami affected many countries in Southeast Asia
and beyond, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, the Maldives,
Somalia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Seychelles and others. Many other countries,
especially Australia and those in Europe, had large numbers of citizens
traveling in the region on holiday. Countries like Sweden and Germany lost
over 500 citizens in the disaster.
|
Country |
Deaths |
Injured |
Missing |
Displaced |
| Confirmed |
Estimated |
| Indonesia |
130,736 |
167,736 |
- |
37,063 |
>500,000 |
| Sri Lanka |
35,322 |
35,322 |
21,411 |
- |
516,150 |
| India |
12,405 |
18,045 |
- |
5,640 |
647,599 |
| Thailand |
5,3953 |
8,212 |
8,457 |
2,817 |
7,000 |
| Somalia |
78 |
289 |
- |
- |
5,000 |
| Myanmar |
61 |
400-600 |
45 |
200 |
3,200 |
| Maldives |
82 |
108 |
- |
26 |
>15,000 |
| Malaysia |
68-69 |
75 |
299 |
6 |
- |
| Tanzania |
10 |
13 |
- |
- |
- |
| Seychelles |
3 |
3 |
57 |
- |
200 |
| Bangladesh |
2 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
| South Africa |
24 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
| Yemen |
2 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
| Kenya |
1 |
1 |
2 |
- |
- |
| Madagascar |
- |
- |
- |
- |
>1,000 |
| Total |
~184,168 |
~230,210 |
~125,000 |
~45,752 |
~1.69 million |
|
