- Title
- The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 26 December 2004
- License
- Public Domain (PD)
-
+ Works in the public domain may be used freely without the permission of the former copyright owner.
+ For more info see http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-definitions.html. - Abstract
- On the 26th December 2004 the western world awoke to the news that a great earthquake had occurred on the northern edge of Sumatra. This earthquake caused a series of tsunami waves that spread across the Indian Ocean crashing with enormous power on the shores of several countries, affecting locations both near and far from the epicentre. Initial life loss estimates were of the order of 1,500, but as the days passed it became apparent that this was a tragedy of immense proportions. By New Year’s Eve the death toll estimates exceeded 100,000 and were continuing to rise dramatically. People across the world watched in disbelief as television channels transmitted video after video of giant waves crashing onto shores. Such basin-wide tsunami events are rare and the world had not experienced one since the great earthquake off Chile in 1960 when several nations around the Pacific Ocean shores including Japan, were affected. Such events are even less frequent in the Indian Ocean where the last basin-wide tsunami occurred in 1883 after the catastrophic volcanic eruption of Krakatau in the Sunda Strait. EEFIT responded to this crisis by issuing a call for volunteers for a field mission to some of the affected regions to its wider membership on January 5, 2005. By the 11th January 2005 sufficient interest was raised amongst engineers and academics for the EEFIT committee to officially announce the launch of the mission. The field team was assembled by January 17th and the mission departed from Europe on January 21st with the last member of the team returning to Europe on February 2nd.
- Publication Date
- Feb. 1, 2006, 3:14 p.m.
- Category
- Geoscientific Information
- information pertaining to earth sciences. Examples: geophysical features and processes, geology, minerals, sciences dealing with the composition, structure and origin of the earth s rocks, risks of earthquakes, volcanic activity, landslides, gravity information, soils, permafrost, hydrogeology, erosion
- Regions
- South Asia , Southeast Asia
- Responsible
- andy
- Language
- English
- Supplemental Information
- tsunami
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