According to USGS scientists, the sea floor near the earthquake was uplifted several meters. The displacement of water above the sea floor triggered the tsunami, which caused catastrophic levels of destruction in countries around the Indian Ocean basin, reaching as far as the east coast of Africa.
Why was the Indian Ocean tsunami so devastating?
A powerful undersea earthquake that struck off the coast of Sumatra island, Indonesia, set off the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, also known as the Christmas or Boxing Day tsunami, on Sunday morning, Dec. 26, 2004. ... The quake caused the ocean floor to suddenly rise by as much as 40 meters, triggering a massive tsunami.
Why did so many people died in the Indian Ocean tsunami?
Altogether, an estimated 230,000 to 260,000 people died in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. ... Why did so many people die on December 26, 2004? Dense coastal populations combined with a lack of tsunami-warning infrastructure came together to produce this horrific result.
What damage did the Indian Ocean tsunami cause?
Ten people were reported killed, and flooding destroyed a major bridge between the capital Port Victoria and main airport . Also, the island reported devastating economic loss in millions of dollars due to hotels, housing, public utilities, and fishing damages. More than 300 deaths were reported and 5,000 displaced.
What caused the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami on 26 December 2004?
The earthquake was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate .
What was the most deadliest tsunami?
The most devastating and deadliest tsunami was one in the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day, 2004 . The tsunami was the most lethal ever to have occurred, with a death toll that reached a staggering figure of over 230,000, affecting people in 14 countries – with Indonesia hit worst, followed by Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand.
Did Maria Belon lose her leg in the tsunami?
She lost part of a leg in the tragedy , but miraculously (spoiler alert), she managed to reunite with the rest of her family by sheer luck. More than 283,000 died. Belon, once a family doctor turned stay-at-home mom, emerged from the ordeal a different person.
Can you swim in a tsunami?
“A person will be just swept up in it and carried along as debris; there’s no swimming out of a tsunami ,” Garrison-Laney says. “There’s so much debris in the water that you’ll probably get crushed.” Eventually, the wave will pull back, dragging cars, trees, and buildings with it.
What is the biggest tsunami ever?
Lituya Bay, Alaska, July 9, 1958
Its over 1,700-foot wave was the largest ever recorded for a tsunami. It inundated five square miles of land and cleared hundreds of thousands of trees. Remarkably, only two fatalities occurred.
When was the last tsunami in the world?
Tsunami of January 22, 2017 (Bougainville, P.N.G.) Tsunami of December 17, 2016 (New Britain, P.N.G.)
How long did it take to recover from the Indian Ocean tsunami?
The results of these efforts are remarkable. Within five years , individuals were back in homes they owned, often on their original land, in communities with new schools and in many cases improved infrastructure.
How tall was the Indian Ocean tsunami?
Over the next seven hours, a tsunami—a series of immense ocean waves—triggered by the quake reached out across the Indian Ocean, devastating coastal areas as far away as East Africa. Some locations reported that the waves had reached a height of 30 feet (9 metres) or more when they hit the shoreline.
How many houses were destroyed in the Indian Ocean tsunami?
The Tsunami Evaluation Coalition, a multi-agency colloboration to evaulate the response to the disaster, said more than 600,000 people’s work was affected “(in some cases only for a few months)” and 141,000 houses were destroyed.
Did anyone famous died in the 2004 tsunami?
26, 2004, she clung onto a palm beach tree for almost eight hours. Nemcova, who suffered internal injuries and a shattered pelvis, was one of the lucky ones. Her boyfriend, photographer Simon Atlee , and more than 200,000 people in 14 countries died in one of the deadliest tsunamis in modern history.
How long did the 2004 tsunami last?
The 2004 quake ruptured a 900-mile stretch along the Indian and Australian plates 31 miles below the ocean floor. Rather than delivering one violent jolt, the quake lasted an unrelenting 10 minutes , releasing as much pent-up power as several thousand atomic bombs.
