2004, December 26 - South Asia: TSUNAMI

Update Wednesday December 29

An 8.9 magnitude under-water quake struck around 7.00 a.m. local time under the sea near Aceh in northern Indonesia. The quake was centered 155 miles south-southeast of Banda Aceh, the capital of Indonesia's Aceh province on Sumatra, and six miles under the Indian Ocean's seabed. The quake occurred along a long north-south fault where the edge of the Indian plate dives below the Burma plate. A sea floor feature known as the Sunda Trench marks where the Indian plate begins its grinding decent into the Earth's hot mantle.
It was followed on the same day (Sunday) by at least a half-dozen powerful aftershocks, ranging in magnitude from almost 6 to 7.3. One aftershock on the next day (Monday, December 27) rattled India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The trembler generated a wall of water up to 20 feet (7 meters) high that sped across thousands of miles of sea and reached the nearest coast lines in without warning about 20 minutes later and approximately 120 minutes later.

The main quake is described as one of the five strongest in the last hundred years. The quake occurred at a place where several huge geological plates push against each other with massive force. A 620-mile section along the boundary of the plates shifted creating a motion that triggered the sudden displacement of a huge volume of water.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) it was the largest earthquake since a 9.2 temblor hit Prince William Sound in Alaska in 1964.

The quake struck just three days after an 8.1 quake along the ocean floor between Australia and Antarctica caused buildings to shake hundreds of miles away. The earlier temblor caused no serious damage or injury. A magnitude 8.0 earthquake on the island's southern tip was the most deadly tremor of 2000, causing at least 103 fatalities and more than 2,000 injuries. Giant quakes also rocked the area in 1797, 1833 and 1861.

The initial earthquake ground shock waves hit Banda Aceh, the capital city of Aceh province on the Island of Sumatra, part of Indonesia. The ground shaking destroyed bridges, the domes of several mosques and sections of the largest hotel, toppled power poles and severed the trans-Sumatran highway in many places. Minutes later the first tsunami wave hit.

Within 2.5 hours the tsunami waves reached the southeastern shores of India and the island of Sri Lanka, about 1,000 miles away from the epicenter.

Hours later, the low-lying Maldives islands, more than 2,500km (1,500 miles) from the quake's epicenter, were also hit by severe flooding.

The tsunami finally reached Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania in East Africa.

The death toll stands at 30,000 confirmed, but some reports predict up to 80,000 people may have been killed across southern Asia.

So far the death toll reported by the following countries:

Bangladesh: 2 dead

Burma: 30 dead

India: 9,500 dead
More than 30,000 people are unaccounted for in India's Andaman and Nicobar islands on Tuesday, December 28. The tropical islands, located 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) and close to the epicenter of earthquake are home to more than 45,000 people. India has carried out little development in the islands, known for their pristine beaches, to leave indigenous tribespeople in peace.
Indian Red Cross Society: Responded immediately to the disaster helping to evacuate survivors, dispensing first aid and providing tents, blankets and food. Sent team to assess damage. Provided drinking water. Mobilized doctors, ambulances and relief items.

Indonesia: 5,000 dead
Indonesian Red Cross Society (Palang Merah Indonesia-PMI): Responded immediately. As Aceh, Indonesia, is a conflict area, the International Committee of the Red Cross sent security personnel to provide search and rescue and evacuation. Volunteers in Aceh are providing first aid and transportation services. Volunteers are also providing relief services in Niaz Island, North Sumatra Province. Emergency shelter (tarps), family kits, sleeping mats, blankets, jerry cans, medicine, body bags and burial clothes are also being mobilized.

Kenya: unconfirmed reports of hundreds of deaths

Malaysia: 65 dead

Maldives: 46 - 328 dead

Myanmar: 90 dead

Seychelles:
Seychelles Red Cross Society (SRCS) mobilized volunteers to assist with evacuations and placed its National Disaster Response Team on standby. The SRCS is also liaising with the Ministry of Health. Its headquarters building was damaged, but the SRCS will be assisting with ambulance services, first aid, tracing, evacuation, clearing, and cleaning, and the provision of food and non-food relief items.

Somalia: 48 dead
The deputy speaker of the transitional federal parliament reported 48 people drowned when their boats were struck by the waves. Most of the victims were fishermen from Gara'g and Hafun villages in the northeastern Puntland region, he said.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Monday (December 27) that many coastal villages and towns in central and northeastern coastal regions were destroyed or submerged by the waves.
Local media in Somalia reported on Tuesday (December 28) that the death toll could be as high as 100. Up to 60 people could not be accounted for in the northern areas of Hafun, Bender Beyla, Elayo, Caluula and Eyl, and in Marka and Baraawe towns of Lower Shabelle region in the south.

Sri Lanka: at least 18,000 dead
According to officials, more than a million people have been forced from their homes.
Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS): Teams are helping to evacuate survivors, dispense first aid and provide tents, blankets and food. The SLRCS deployed vehicles to assist with the evacuations.

Tanzania: 10 dead
According to police most of the casualties were children who were swimming near the beach.

Thailand: at least 1,010 dead and hundreds missing along the country's west coast -- home to 40 percent of Thailand's $10 billion tourist industry.
Among those perished was Khun Poom Jensen, the 21-year-old autistic grandson of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
One of the heaviest hit areas was Phuket, where 130 people were dead and as many as 600 people were believed to have been washed out to sea.
Many of the dead and missing are believed to be foreign nationals who were on the beach when the massive waves hit.
Thai Red Cross Society (TRCS): Sending five doctors and several nurses to Phuket, one of the country's most popular tourist destinations and one of the most affected areas in Thailand. TRCS is also sending food, clothes and water. The TRCS requests mostly financial support.

Tourists:
The death toll includes a significant number of tourists from Europe, Japan, and the United States. Many of those spent the holidays at beach resorts in Thailand. The Swedish tour operator Fritidsresor said 600 Swedes staying at the Khao Lak resort in Thailand had not been accounted for. Chaos erupted on Monday, December 27, at Phuket airport as hundreds of tourists, many bandaged and brought to the airport in ambulances, tried to board planes for Bangkok. Fifty-five foreign national fatalities, including 12 Americans have been confirmed so far.

About 10,000 Britons are estimated to have been holidaying in the southern Asian region during this peak season. 18 of them are confirmed dead.

Many people had their belongings, such as passports and identification washed away, therefore it has been very difficult to identify the dead and injured.

Exact numbers of people killed, injured or missing in the countries hit, are impossible to confirm. Hundreds if not thousands are still thought to be missing from coastal regions including hundreds of fisherman.

Warnings:
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, operated by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sent e-mails with tsunami warnings within 20 minutes of the quake. The warning reached some Australian and Indonesian officials, but the center does not know what became of the information after that.
Officials in Thailand and Indonesia conceded that immediate public warnings of the tsunami waves could have saved lives. The only known warning issued by Thai authorities reached resort operators when it was too late. The waves hit Sri Lanka and India more than two hours after the quake.

An international warning system in the Pacific was started in 1965, the year after tsunamis associated with a magnitude 9.2 quake struck Alaska. It is administered by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Member states include all the major Pacific Rim nations in North America, Asia and South America, as well as the Pacific islands, Australia and New Zealand.

Tsunamis occur only occasionally, but they are much rarer in the Indian Ocean than the Pacific, where one occurs every few years.

In Japan, a network of fiber-optic sensors records any seismic activity and passes that information to a powerful computer at the Meteorological Agency, which estimates the height, speed, destination and arrival time of any tsunamis. Within two minutes of the quake, the agency can sound the alarm.

Response
Red Cross Response
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement have a strong presence in the affected region. They have already begun to mobilize staff and volunteers and deploy teams to the affected areas. Emergency assessment and first aid teams have been deployed to several areas. Relief and contingency stocks including plastic sheeting, tents, blankets, kitchen sets, family kits, buckets, New Emergency Health Kits and cholera kits are being released.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
On Sunday (December 26), the Federation issued a preliminary emergency cash appeal to assist approximately 500,000 people for six months through support to the relief operations of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and other countries in the region.
On Monday (December 27), the Federation sent medical supplies from Copenhagen, Denmark for 100,000 people into Sri Lanka. A Field Assessment and Coordination Team have been deployed to Sri Lanka. The Federation and the International Committee of the Red Cross are coordinating tracing activities and providing a facility for survivors to notify family members who are looking for them. The ICRC will establish a Web site soon, and it will be available through a link at the Federation Web site (www.ifrc.org).

American Red Cross - Financial assistance: An account has been set up for disaster assistance for the area. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org. Relief Supplies: In Dubai, pre-positioned resources and relief supplies including family tents, blankets, 3,520 plastic tarps, family hygiene parcels and family kitchen sets.

Economic Impact
Tourism is a vital part of the economies of the stricken countries, providing jobs for 19 million people according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). Many of the worst-hit areas, such as Sri Lanka, Thailand's Phuket island and the Maldives, are popular tourist resorts that are key to local economies.
In the Maldives islands, in the Indian Ocean, two-thirds of all jobs depend on tourism.
India: 5.6% of jobs; 4.9% of GDP,
Indonesia: 8.5% of jobs; 10.3% of GDP
Thailand: 8.9% of jobs; 12.2% of GDP
Maldives: 64% of jobs; 74.15 of GDP
Malaysia: 12.7% of jobs; 14.7% of GDP

December and January are two of the busiest months for the travel in southern Asia and the damage will be even more keenly felt as the industry was only just beginning to emerge from a post 9/11 slump.
Growth has been rapid in southeast Asia, with the World Tourism Organisation figures showing a 45% increase in tourist revenues in the region during the first 10 months of 2004.

Early Earthquake Report of USGC (United States Geological Survey)

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