2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

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 (07:58:53 local time) on December 26 2004. The tsunami generated by the earthquake killed approximately 275,000 people, making it one of the deadliest disasters in modern history. The disaster is also known as the Boxing Day Tsunami.

Damage and casualties

The reported death toll from the earthquake, the tsunami and the resultant floods varies widely because of confusion and conflicting reports, but could total over

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265,000 people with tens of thousands reported missing, and over a million left homeless. The U.S. Geological Survey records the toll as 283,100 killed, 14,100 missing, and 1,126,900 people displaced http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2004/usslav/. Early news reports after the earthquake spoke of a toll only in the "hundreds", but the numbers rose steadily over the following week.

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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. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4383573.stm

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In addition to the large number of local residents, up to 9,000 foreign tourists (mostly Europeans) enjoying the peak holiday travel season were among the dead or missing, especially Scandinavians. The European nation hardest hit may have been Sweden, which reported more than 500 dead or missing http://www.thelocal.se/guides/?to=earthquake.

Related Topics:
Scandinavia - Sweden

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States of emergency were declared in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and the Maldives. The United Nations has declared that the current relief operation will be the costliest ever. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has stated that reconstruction would probably take between five and ten years. Governments and NGOs fear the final death toll may double as a result of diseases, prompting a massive humanitarian response.

Related Topics:
States of emergency - Sri Lanka - Indonesia - Maldives - United Nations - UN Secretary-General - Kofi Annan - NGO - Death toll - Humanitarian response

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Measured in lives lost, this is one of the ten worst earthquakes in recorded history. http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqsmosde.html It is also the single worst tsunami in history; the previous record was the 1703 tsunami at Awa, Japan, that killed over 100,000 people. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/savageseas/neptune-side-tsunamis.html

Related Topics:
1703 - Awa

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For purposes of establishing timelines of local events, the time zones of affected areas are: UTC+3: (Kenya, Madagascar, Somalia, Tanzania); UTC+4: (Mauritius, Réunion, Seychelles); UTC+5: (Maldives); : (India); UTC+6: (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka); : (Cocos Islands, Myanmar); UTC+7: (Indonesia (western), Thailand); UTC+8: (Malaysia, Singapore). Since the quake occurred at 00:58:53 UTC, add the above offsets to find the local time of the quake. A list of times can be found at a USGS site.

Related Topics:
Time zone - UTC+3 - UTC+4 - UTC+5 - UTC+6 - UTC+7 - UTC+8 - UTC

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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 travelling in the region on holiday. Countries like Sweden and Germany lost over 500 citizens in the disaster.

Related Topics:
Southeast Asia - Indonesia - Sri Lanka - India - Thailand - Maldives - Somalia - Myanmar - Malaysia - Seychelles - Europe - Sweden - Germany - 500

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Casualties in historical context

The earthquake was the fourth most powerful recorded since 1900, and the confirmed death toll so far is between 165,000 and 235,000, due to the ensuing tsunami. The deadliest earthquakes since 1900 were the Tangshan, China earthquake of 1976, in which at least 255,000 were killed, the earthquake of 1927 in Xining, Qinghai, China (200,000), the Great Kanto earthquake which struck Tokyo in 1923 (143,000), and the Gansu, China earthquake of 1920 (200,000). The deadliest known earthquake in history occurred in 1556 in Shaanxi, China, with an estimated death toll of 830,000, though figures from this time period may not be reliable http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eqlists/eqsmajr.html.

Related Topics:
Earthquake - 1900 - Death toll - Tangshan, China - Earthquake of 1976 - 1927 - Xining - Qinghai - Great Kanto earthquake - Tokyo - 1923 - Gansu - 1920 - 1556 in Shaanxi, China

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The 2004 tsunami is the deadliest in recorded history. Prior to 2004, the deadliest recorded tsunami was in 1782 when 40,000 people were killed by a tsunami in the South China Sea . The tsunami created by the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa is thought to have resulted in 36,000 deaths. The most deadly tsunami between 1900 and 2004 occurred in 1908 in Messina, Italy, on the Mediterranean Sea where the earthquake and tsunami killed 70,000. The most deadly tsunami in the Atlantic Ocean resulted from the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which, combined with the toll from the actual earthquake and resulting fires, killed over 100,000.

Related Topics:
2004 - 1782 - South China Sea - 1883 - Krakatoa - 1900 - 1908 - Messina - Italy - Mediterranean Sea - Atlantic Ocean - 1755 Lisbon earthquake

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The 2004 earthquake and tsunami seem to be the worst natural disaster since either the 1976 Tangshan earthquake or the 1970 Bhola cyclone, or could conceivably exceed both of these. Due to uncertainty over death tolls, it might never be known for sure which of these natural disasters was the deadliest.

Related Topics:
Natural disaster - Tangshan earthquake - 1970 Bhola cyclone

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