Date of disaster:
December 26, 2004

Type of Disaster:
Undersea megathrust earthquake

Description of Disaster:
On december 26, 2004 an undersea megathrust earthquake occurred at 00:58:53 UTC , with an epicentre off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake itself is known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake. This earthquake resulted in a tsunami wich is usually refered to as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Asian Tsunami, Indonesian Tsunami, and Boxing Day Tsunami.

Visuals of the Disaster:

According to the U.S. Geological Survey a total of 227,898 people died . Measured in lives lost, this is one of the ten worst earthquakes in recorded history, as well as the single worst tsunami in history.

The tsunami caused serious damage and deaths as far as the east coast of Africa, with the furthest recorded death due to the tsunami occurring at Rooi Els in South Africa, 8,000 km away from the epicentre. In total, eight people in South Africa died due to abnormally high sea levels and waves.

Relief agencies report that one-third of the dead appear to be children. This is a result of the high proportion of children in the populations of many of the affected regions and because children were the least able to resist being overcome by the surging waters. Oxfam went on to report that as many as four times more women than men were killed in some regions because they were waiting on the beach for the fishermen to return and looking after their children in the houses.

In addition to the large number of local residents, up to 9,000 foreign tourists enjoying the peak holiday travel season were among the dead or missing, especially people from the Nordic countries.

States of emergency were declared in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and the Maldives. The United Nations estimated at the outset that the relief operation (which is presently still underway) would be the costliest in human history. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has stated that reconstruction would probably take between five and ten years. Governments and non-governmental organisations fear the final death toll may double as a result of diseases, prompting a massive humanitarian response.