Indian Ocean earthquake

On December 26, 2004, a tsunami killed more than 250,000 people in countries such as Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka or Thailand. The earthquake that triggered the tsunami had a magnitude of 9.3 degrees at the scale of Richter and the waves reached thirty meters.

The epicenter of the earthquake was near the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. In the deep waters the tsunami waves reached a velocity approximately 1000 kilometers per hour.

The tragedy had devastating effects: thousands of disappeared and displaced and incalculable material losses

Months after the disaster, thousands of people lived in makeshift camps.

Paradoxically, the catastrophe had a positive consequence: members of the guerrillas and the Sri Lankan army declared a ceasefire so that the population could recover from the effects of the tsunami.

The most affected country was Indonesia, where 126,000 people died. Sri Lanka was the second most affected country by the tsunami. More than 5,000 people died on the west coast of Thailand, a large part of them tourists of more than 30 different nationalities.

9000 people died off the coast of India. The effects of the giant waves reached the coast of Brazil and in South Africa, 8000 kilometers away from the epicenter, eight people died from the effects of the waves.

International aid

After the tsunami, an international campaign to help the affected countries began. The United Nations organized the largest relief operation in history. Cooperators and NGOs from all over the world provided their help and all kinds of basic material goods, such as mattresses, mosquito nets, pills. purification of water, tents or blankets.

It is estimated that the economic aid of the international community reached 9 billion dollars. Bill Gates and Formula 1 driver Michael Schumacher made large donations.

The number of organizations humanitarian aid was so high that it caused a certain paralysis in the work of coordination.

Environmental impact and some prevention measures

The earthquake of Ocean Indico had very damaging consequences on the environment. Thousands of freshwater wells were washed away, mangroves and vast forested areas disappeared, and many agricultural areas suffered from the effects of pests.

At present, knowledge about seismology does not allow us to know in advance when and where an earthquake will take place. However, it is possible to adopt preventive measures and in this sense, early detection buoys have been installed in the Indian Ocean.

Photo: Fotolia - Yarr65