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The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake--known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake--was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 7:58 a.m. (local time) December 26, 2004 with an epicentre 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.
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Magnitude:
Magnitude 9 "megathrust"
Scale of slippage:
30 kilometres below the seafloor, a 1200 km stretch of the Indian plate
was thrust up to 20 metres under the Burma plate, raising the seafloor by several metres.
Historical ranking:
The fourth largest since 1900 and the world's biggest since a
magnitude 9.2 earthquake struck Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1964.
Epicentre locality:
250 km south-south-east of Banda Aceh, Indonesia and 1600 km
north-west of Jakarta.
Energy released:
Equivalent to the explosion of 475,000 kilotons of TNT, or 23,000
Hiroshima-sized atomic bombs.
Height and speed of tsunamis:
In the open ocean, just 50 centimetres high but travelling
at up to 800 km/h. However, the wave s grew and slowed as the sea shallowed towards
coasts. Waves were up to 10 metres on the coastline of Sumatra near the epicentre, 4
metres in Thailand, Sri Lanka and Somalia.
Distance waves travelled inland: Up to 2000 metres.
Number of countries damaged:
13, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand,
Myanmar, Malaysia, The Maldives and Somalia.
Date of last major tsunami in the Indian Ocean:
1945
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Disaster and humanitarian crisis statistics |
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Number of people killed:
Latest figures indicate at least 226,000 dead, including
166,000 in Indonesia, 38,000 in Sri Lanka, 16, 000 in India 5300 in Thailand and 5000
foreign tourists.
Number of people injured:
Over 500,000
Potential additional deaths from infectious diseases: 150,000
Number of people affected:
Up to 5 million people lost homes, or access to food and
water.
Number of children affected:
Around a third of the dead are children, and 1.5 million
have been wounded, displaced or lost families.
Number of people left without the means to make a living:
One million
Number of World Heritage Sites destroyed or damaged:
Five, including: the Old
Town of Galle in Sri Lanka, the Tropical Rainforest of Sumatra in Indonesia and the Sun
Temples of Konarak in India.
Estimated cost of tsunami early warning technology in Indian Ocean:
$20 million
Estimated cost of aid and reconstruction following tsunami:
$7.5 billion
Total international aid promised to Tsunami-ravaged nations:
$7 billion
Source: NewScientist.com
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