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.

Humanitarian, economic and environmental impact

A great deal of humanitarian aid was needed due to widespread damage of the infrastructure, shortages of food and water, and economic damage. Epidemics were of special concern, due to the high population density and tropical climate of the affected areas. The main concern of humanitarian and government agencies was to provide sanitation facilities and fresh drinking water to contain the spread of diseases such as cholera, diphtheria, dysentery and typhoid.

Related Topics:
Humanitarian aid - Infrastructure - Epidemic - Population density - Tropical climate - Cholera - Diphtheria - Dysentery - Typhoid

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In the days after the event, significant effort was spent in burying bodies hurriedly for fear of disease. However, the public health risks may have been exaggerated and therefore this may not have been the best way to allocate resources. See Dead bodies and health risks. The World Food Programme provided food aid to more than 1.3 million people affected by the tsunami http://www.wfp.org/newsroom/in_depth/frontline/2004/tsunami/0412-tsunami_crisis.html#.

Related Topics:
Burying - Public health - Dead bodies and health risks - World Food Programme

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Nations all over the world provided over USD 3 billion in aid for damaged regions, with the Australian Government pledging USD 819.9 million (including a USD 760.6 million aid package for Indonesiahttp://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=25725), the German Government offering USD 660 million, the Japanese Government offering USD 500 million, the Canadian Government offering CAD 425 million, the Norwegian Government offering USD 170 million, the U.S. Government offering USD 35 million initially, and the World Bank offering USD 250 million. According to USAID, the US has pledged additional funds in long-term U.S. support to help the tsunami victims rebuild their lives. On February 9, President Bush asked Congress to increase the U.S. commitment to a total of $950 million. Officials estimate that billions of dollars will be needed. In mid-March, the Asian Development Bank reported that over USD 4 billion in aid promised by governments was behind schedule. Sri Lanka reported that it had received no foreign government aid, while foreign individuals had been generous http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4361053.stm.

Related Topics:
USD - Australian Government - German Government - Japanese Government - Canadian Government - Norwegian Government - U.S. Government - World Bank - USAID - Asian Development Bank

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Economic impact

The impact on coastal fishing communities and fisherfolk, some of the poorest people in the region, has been devastating with high losses of income earners as well as boats and fishing gear http://www.ukabc.org/tsunamis.htm. In Sri Lanka's coastal areas, for example, artisanal fishery is an important source of fish for local markets and industrial fishery is the major economic activity, providing direct employment to about 250 000 people. In recent years the fishery industry has emerged as a dynamic export-oriented sector, generating substantial foreign exchange earnings. Preliminary estimates indicate that 66 percent of the fishing fleet and industrial infrastructure in coastal regions have been destroyed by the wave surges, which will have adverse economic effects both at local and national levels http://www.fao.org/tsunami/doc/Note_on_South_Asia_Tsunami_ES.doc.

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But some economists believe that damage to the affected countries' economies will be minor because losses in the tourism and fishing industries are a relatively small percentage of the GDP. However, others caution that damage to infrastructure is an overriding factor. In some areas, drinking water supplies and farm fields may have been contaminated for years by salt water from the ocean http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6840.

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Both the earthquake and the tsunami may have affected shipping in the Malacca Straits by changing the depth of the seabed and by disturbing navigational buoys and old shipwrecks. Compiling new navigational charts may take months or years.http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=387928.

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Countries in the region appealed to tourists to return, pointing out that most tourist infrastructure is undamaged. However, tourists were reluctant to do so for psychological reasons. Even resorts on the Pacific coast of Thailand, which were completely untouched, were hit by cancellations http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/01/14/tsunami.tourists.ap/index.html.

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Environmental impact

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Beyond the heavy toll on human lives, the Indian Ocean earthquake has caused an enormous environmental impact that will affect the region for many years to come. It has been reported that severe damage has been inflicted on ecosystems such as mangroves, coral reefs, forests, coastal wetlands, vegetation, sand dunes and rock formations, animal and plant biodiversity and groundwater. In addition, the spread of solid and liquid waste and industrial chemicals, water pollution and the destruction of sewage collectors and treatment plants threaten the environment even further, in untold ways. The environmental impact will take a long time and significant resources to assess http://www.oceansatlas.org/id/71687.

Related Topics:
Ecosystem - Mangrove - Coral reef - Forest - Wetland - Vegetation - Dunes - Rock - Biodiversity - Groundwater - Water pollution - Sewage

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According to specialists http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn6840, the main effect is being caused by poisoning of the fresh water supplies and the soil by salt water infiltration and deposit of a salt layer over arable land. It has been reported that in the Maldives, 16 to 17 coral reef atolls that were overcome by sea waves are totally without fresh water and could be rendered uninhabitable for decades. Uncountable wells that served communities were invaded by sea, sand and earth; and aquifers were invaded through porous rock. Salted-over soil becomes sterile, and it is difficult and costly to restore for agriculture. It also causes the death of plants and important soil micro-organisms. Thousands of rice, mango and banana plantations in Sri Lanka were destroyed almost entirely and will take years to recover.

Related Topics:
Fresh water - Salt water - Salt - Aquifer - Agriculture

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The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is working with governments of the region in order to determine the severity of the ecological impact and how to address them http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=414&ArticleID=4692&l=en. UNEP has decided also to earmark a USD 1,000,000 emergency fund and to establish a Task Force with this aim. In response to a request from the Maldivian Government, the Australian Government sent ecological experts to help restore marine environments and coral reefs - the lifeblood of Maldivian tourism. Much of the ecological expertise has been rendered from work with the Great Barrier Reef, in Australia's north-eastern waters.

Related Topics:
United Nations Environment Programme - Maldivian Government - Great Barrier Reef

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Other effects

Many health professionals and aid workers have reported widespread psychological trauma associated with the tsunami, and many sightings of ghosts have been reported, particularly those of foreigners. Traditional beliefs in many of the affected regions state that a relative of the family must bury the body of the dead or the ghost will return. Some psychologists interpret this as evidence of psychological trauma.

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Some religious groups asserted that the tsunami was God's punishment for sex tourism or other sinful activities in southeast Asia, but this attracted considerable controversy and opposition (see the scandal provoked by the conservative Moroccan newspaper Attajdid; see also this article). In any case the hardest hit area, Aceh, is considered to be a religiously conservative Islamic society and has had no tourism or Western presence at all in recent years due to armed conflict between the Indonesian military and Acehnese separatists.

Related Topics:
God - Sex tourism - Moroccan - Attajdid - Aceh

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There were allegations by the Al-Osboa'newspaper in Egypt that the tsunami was possibly caused by an Indian nuclear experiment in which Israeli and American nuclear experts participated. Furthermore, according to Al-Osboa', India, in its heated nuclear race with Pakistan, has lately received sophisticated nuclear know-how from the United States and Israel, both of which "showed readiness to cooperate with India in experiments to exterminate humankind," beginning with the heavily populated Muslim regions of southeast Asia, where the bulk of casualties took place. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1104981578311 These allegations are highly controversial, and no credible evidence has emerged to substantiate claims that the tsunami was caused by a nuclear detonation.

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In what may be the only positive note of the tsunami, the water washed away centuries of sand from some of the ruins of a 1200 year old lost city at Mahabalipuram on the south coast of India.

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