An earthquake that occurred on December 26, 2004 off the coast of Indonesia caused a giant wave - a tsunami, recognized as the deadliest natural disaster in modern history.
The epicenter of the disaster was located at a depth of about 20 kilometers under the ocean floor, about 200 kilometers west of the northern tip of the island of Sumatra (Indonesia). The length of the earthquake source in the direction north-northwest (Andaman Sea) - south-southeast (along the coast of the island of Sumatra) was more than a thousand kilometers.
The energy released by an earthquake is approximately equal to the energy of the world's entire stockpile of nuclear weapons or the world's annual energy consumption.
Following this natural disaster, UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) was tasked with developing and implementing an Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System. In 2005, the Intergovernmental Coordination Group was established. Following eight years of international cooperation under the auspices of the IOC, the Tsunami Warning System became operational in March 2013, with regional tsunami watch centers in Australia, India and Indonesia taking responsibility for transmitting tsunami warnings to Indian Ocean countries.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
If you travel to Sri Lanka, you are guaranteed to hear about the 2004 tsunami, otherwise you can demand a refund on your air ticket. The consequences of the Great Wave are simply impossible not to notice; the tsunami thoroughly swept along the entire perimeter of the island, taking a significant part of all its coastal buildings into the ocean. And if in the immediate vicinity of the migration routes of tourists everything has already been practically restored, then in many other places abandoned and destroyed houses still serve as a reminder of the terrible event.
On December 26, 2004, an earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused a tsunami, which was later recognized as the deadliest natural disaster in human history. The exact number of deaths has not been established and until now, according to various estimates, it ranges from 225 to 300 thousand people.
The memory of the victims is perpetuated by numerous memorial buildings:
This monument is located near the village of Peraliya in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. It was here that nine-meter waves overtook a crowded passenger train, and about 1,700 of the 2,000 passengers died.
The loss of the Samudra Devi train is the largest train accident in world history:
Cars of relatives of the victims, including many tourists, often stop near the memorial.
At the same time, the vicinity of the monument is a good place for a stop and a lively roadside trade:
If you are still not very clear about how the tsunami spread across the ocean, then this diagram will fill the knowledge gap:
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By the way, if you stick to the GIF for a long time, you will notice a very interesting fact. You can clearly see how the wave bends around the coast of Sri Lanka and continues its movement towards the Maldives, whose height above sea level, by the way, is approximately 1 m. It would seem that nothing could save the islands from destruction, but nevertheless, you probably still come across offers from travel companies with tours to the Maldives at exotic prices. What's the trick? The fact is that nature can not only punish, but also protect, you just need to treat it with respect. The Maldives is probably the only country in Southeast Asia that protects its coral reefs at the state level, and they softened the main impact of the wave so much that the islands were practically not affected by the tsunami, the airport resumed operations the next day, several hotels were closed for repairs, Well, trash cans were scattered on the embankment, even the reception of tourists did not stop.
But this concerns the events of those years, our history is a little more modern. On April 11, 2012, while we were sleeping peacefully, a new earthquake with a magnitude of 8.7 arose off the coast of Sumatra (Indonesia). Almost the same magnitude, the same location, and the threat of a tsunami was extremely high. Evacuations even began in the coastal areas of Indonesia and Thailand. In general, a lot of things happened while we were sleeping, so at 12 o’clock in the afternoon, when we finally got to the beach, we noticed that something had clearly changed, namely the number of people on the beach. We didn’t attach much importance to this, you never know, again some particularly sacred holiday. Our friends brought clarity and explained the essence of what was happening. Taught by the bitter experience of 2004, Sri Lankans began to prepare for the tsunami. I must say that they did it quite calmly, the scale of the tragedy was not felt, so we went to the beach to watch the big wave.
The weather, as luck would have it, was quite good:
There are still traces of the morning cricket game on the beach:
On the way we came across only a couple of tourists, and they quickly collected their belongings:
Many hotels have organized the sending of their guests to the interior of the island:
Some still had to take the eleventh route:
Many residents took up their starting positions awaiting the evacuation signal:
After a tsunami is recorded on the eastern part of the island, residents of the west coast still have a full 40 minutes before the wave arrives. These 40 minutes must be spent with maximum efficiency, hiding as much as possible inside the island, the main thing is not to overdo it and not run out from the other side.
Fortunately for us, in 2012 everything turned out well and a 1m high wave seemed slightly ironic against the backdrop of all the safety measures taken, but everything could have turned out not so rosy. As seismologists later reported, there was still a fundamental difference among earthquakes: in 2004, vertical tremors of the seabed during an earthquake caused the movement of huge masses of water, but this time the tremors were horizontal and did not pose such a great danger.
In 2004, the Germans and Japanese provided assistance in restoring the island, for which grateful Sri Lankans made memorial plaques for them:
Finally, a few tips in our traditional section.
If you are “lucky” to visit Sri Lanka during a tsunami, hotel employees may encourage you to take shelter on the upper floors. This is a tricky proposition, the height of the wave in 2004 reached 15 meters (5-story building), even if it doesn’t get you, the inevitable destruction of the building will finish the job.
By the way, if you decide to buy or build a house on the ocean, then do not imitate our oligarchs, do not do it closer than 350 meters from the water, otherwise in the event of force majeure the government simply will not compensate for your loss.
A giant wave never appears just like that, the main thing is to have an idea of the dangerous regions and take precautions.
Causes of tsunamis
- Tsunamis are caused by earthquakes, but not every earthquake will necessarily cause a tsunami.
- Experts associate the Great Lisbon earthquake of 1755, which killed more than 50 thousand people off the coast of Spain and Portugal, with the tidal effects of the Moon and Sun on the earth's crust.
- The 1998 tsunami, which destroyed everything in its path in the Papua New Guinea region, was caused by a landslide, the collapse of which, in turn, was provoked by a moderately powerful earthquake ().
- So-called “meteorological” tsunamis appear against the background of typhoons: after a sharp turn of the typhoon to the side, the resulting wave can continue to move independently (for example, the 2011 tsunami in the area of the English city of Plymouth was caused by a storm in the Bay of Biscay).
- “Exclusive” tsunamis are caused by underwater volcanic eruptions (for example, the tsunami of 1883, formed after the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano), meteorite falls (a National Geographic channel documentary mentions traces of a tsunami that remained in the state of Texas after a meteorite fell 65 million years ago ) and man-made disasters.
Philippines, Malay Archipelago
The Philippine islands are located in a seismically active zone. And where there are earthquakes, there are tsunamis, and it is impossible to predict which of the seven thousand islands will be hit this year. In 2013, these were the islands of Samar and Leyte, where waves up to 5 meters high claimed the lives of 10 thousand people and left about half a million local residents homeless. And the worst tsunami in the history of the Philippines occurred in 1976, when, as a result of an earthquake in the Cotabato Trench, a wave hit the island of Mindanao, killing 8 thousand people.
Gizo, Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands, tiny pieces of land scattered across the Pacific Ocean, are defenseless against the destructive power of a tsunami, which was confirmed in 2007, when the cities of Gizo and Noro completely disappeared under water.
Honshu, Japan
In 2012, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that occurred near the Philippine city of Guan triggered a tsunami just over half a meter high in Japan that covered the capital region and Fukushima Prefecture. There is no comparison with the truly horrific destruction of 2011, when a magnitude 9 earthquake, dubbed the Great East Japan Earthquake, was followed by a tsunami up to 40 meters high, flooding an area of 561 square kilometers.
The greatest impact occurred in Miyagi Prefecture (327 km 2), and the highest wave height (40.5 meters) was recorded in Iwate Prefecture. Considering that the word “tsunami” itself came to us from the Japanese language (literally translated as “big wave in the harbor”), the Japanese, who had been familiar with this natural phenomenon for centuries, were not prepared for a tragedy of such magnitude.
Maldives
Despite its seemingly vulnerable position, the Maldives archipelago experienced its only major tsunami in 2004. There is a threat, but coral reefs serve as a reliable natural defense system for the island from surprises from the ocean.
More dangerous than a wave
- The mechanism of tsunami formation differs from the mechanism of formation of an ordinary wave, and this is where its danger lies.
- In a strong wind, the height of an ordinary wave can significantly exceed the height of an average 5-meter tsunami and even reach 20 meters, but the length of such a wave is no more than a couple of hundred meters.
- During underwater earthquakes, the entire thickness of water comes into motion, so the length of the tsunami wave is measured in thousands of kilometers, and the speed can reach 1000 km/h.
- An ordinary wave is driven by the wind, but a tsunami carries a huge charge of energy, moving towards land with all its might.
- While a storm wave in narrow spaces loses its pressure, the power of a tsunami, on the contrary, is concentrated there, and it destroys everything in its path.
Phuket, Thailand
An underground earthquake with tremors of 9.0 magnitude brought death and destruction to the Thai island of Phuket in 2004. Despite the fact that the epicenter of the earthquake was in the Indian Ocean near the island of Sumatra, the subsequent tsunami reached the shores of Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India and even South Africa. Three waves hit each other in turn, leaving numerous buildings, local residents and tourists underwater.
Hilo, Hawaii
In the Hawaiian Islands, more precisely, in the city, the International Tsunami Warning Service is located. The location was not chosen by chance: Hawaii is regularly covered by waves about 2 meters high, with the main impact falling on the city of Hilo, which is located on the shore of the bay of the same name. Despite the small wave height, Hawaiian tsunamis are among the most dangerous, since if a person gets caught in a tsunami wave on one of the local sandy bays with a very short beach, he will simply be smashed against the rocks. But if you are careful, there is nothing to worry about: all such areas are marked with warning signs, and sirens are installed along the shores of the islands.
Alaska, USA
Alaska suffered two powerful tsunamis in a row: in 1957 and 1958, giant waves covered Andreanova Island and Lituya Bay, respectively. In 1958, the wave was so powerful that it actually destroyed an entire strip of land - the La Gaussy spit.
Kamchatka, Russia
Tsunami waves come to Kamchatka from an earthquake-prone zone, which is located in the Kuril-Kamchatka and Aleutian trenches. The three most powerful attacks of ocean waters occurred in the last century: in 1923, the wave height reached 30 meters, in 1952 - 15 meters, in 1960 - 7 meters.
Iquique, Chile
On May 22, 1960, a magnitude 9.5 earthquake occurred near the Chilean city of Valdivia, the strongest earthquake in modern human history. And of course, there was a tsunami: in addition to the damage caused directly to the Chilean coast by a 20-meter wave, it reached Alaska, the shores of the Kuril Islands, Japan and overwhelmed the Hawaiian city of Hilo, carrying about 6 thousand people into the ocean. In 2014, residents of the port town of Iquique were evacuated, where a two-meter tsunami wave arrived after an 8.2 magnitude earthquake.
Acapulco, Mexico
Despite the fact that the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred in April 2014 did not cause a tsunami, the Mexican resorts of Acapulco and Zihuatanejo are under constant threat of the sudden arrival of a rogue wave. So if the ocean suddenly retreats from the shore, it’s time to run.
Tsunami statistics
What to do if “covered”
- If you are in the coastal area and feel an earthquake, leave the shore within 15-20 minutes.
- If you did not feel the earthquake, you can guess that a tsunami is approaching by the strong ebb of the tide.
- While the tsunami is approaching, do not waste time under any circumstances: do not go down to look at the exposed seabed, do not film the wave. Immediately look for a hill of at least 40 meters in height, preferably warning others about the danger, without causing panic.
- If you are in a building (such as a hotel) and there is no time to find higher ground, go to the upper floors of the building and barricade the windows and doors. Find a safe place: there should be no potentially dangerous objects near you (such as cabinets that could fall or mirrors that could break).
- If you are unable to find a hill, try to take cover behind any significant obstacle for the water (for example, a strong, tall tree or large stone) and cling to it so that you do not get carried away by the flow of water into the ocean.
- If a tsunami finds you on the open sea (for example, you were on a ship and you were thrown into the water by a wave), do not panic, take a breath, group yourself and cover your head with your hands. Having surfaced, get rid of wet clothes as quickly as possible and find any object that you can cling to (in 2004 in Thailand, one of the survivors managed to swim out by clinging to the tail of a crocodile, and another to a python).
- After the storm has passed, do not return to the sea for 2-3 hours: a tsunami is a series of waves.
Photo: thinkstockphotos.com, flickr.com
Like any maritime state, Maldives at risk of tsunami. The territory of the republic consists of almost 96% of water, and therefore two dozen atolls of the archipelago are constantly surrounded by water. By and large, the violence of the water elements on the islands was not feared until the tragic event of 2004. Then the tsunami killed 76 local residents, three tourists from Britain and about three dozen people received various injuries. It is worth noting that out of 822 Russian tourists at that time, not a single one was injured during the incident.
After this incident, the Maldives quickly restored its normal rhythm of life. Thanks to the fact that each island with a hotel is actually an autonomous settlement, the republic managed to avoid many problems. For example, each island has its own communications network, its own water supply and sewerage system, its own power plants and other systems.
Despite the fact that immediately after the tsunami, many hotels closed for reconstruction and began to receive cancellations from booked tours, the tourist flow soon returned to the same level. Of the approximately 90 large hotels, only two dozen suffered significant damage, due to which their reconstruction was relatively delayed.
Compared to neighboring countries, the Maldives suffered the least. Largely due to our own environmental policy, and in some ways due to the sandy soil, through which water quickly seeped and did not create unnecessary problems. The authorities of the Maldives are the only ones in the area who protect and care for their natural protectors from the tsunami. The archipelago and each island in particular is surrounded by a natural circle of coral reefs, which take the brunt of the wave. In this regard, at resorts it is strictly forbidden to disturb and remove corals and shells from the water, and the laws of the republic prohibit the export of uncertified products of this kind.
Lately, especially dangerous tsunamis do not bother the Maldives, and vacationers can fully enjoy the bright sun and hot beaches without worrying about their own safety. In addition, the Maldives is truly a paradise on Earth in the Indian Ocean. There is no place more amazing and beautiful than this; moreover, unlike other resorts, the service on the islands is really high-quality, and the services are comprehensive, but unobtrusive. The only thing you need to pay special attention to when booking a tour is choosing the right hotel.
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According to environmentalists, the degree of destruction from the tsunami in the coastal areas of Southeast Asia was largely influenced by the state of natural coastal ecosystems, which can soften the blow of the disaster and minimize human and economic losses. After all, coral reefs are a natural barrier against the destructive force of a tsunami; they take the brunt of the wave and break it before it reaches the coastline. Only the Maldives has a special government policy for the protection of its coral reefs, unlike other states where the reefs have suffered greatly in recent years due to human causes: from water pollution, destructive fishing, intensive development of aquaculture and the tourism business. Experts confirm that, largely thanks to the belt of coral reefs that surround the islands in a protective ring, the Maldives suffered from the tsunami much less than other coastal states in Southeast Asia.
The consequences of the tsunami for the Maldives were not too destructive, also due to the fact that each resort in the Maldives has its own infrastructure: energy supply, sewerage and drinking water supply systems, and other life-support systems. Accordingly, the risk of epidemics is minimized. Thanks to the flat terrain and sandy soils, the water flow passed very quickly, without causing stagnation.
Maldives - consequences of the tsunami in the Maldives.
According to the results of the official assessment of the consequences of the tsunami in the Maldives by the Government of Maldives:
1. After the tsunami, the tourism industry in the Maldives entered a normal stage of activity. Despite the fact that in the first days after the tsunami there were cancellations of tours, the vast majority of tourists who booked tours to the Maldives continue to come, and new orders are constantly arriving. Currently, more than 17,000 people are vacationing in the Maldives.
2. Male International Airport, located on Hulule Island (Maldives), was partially damaged by the tsunami. However, on December 27, 2004, the airport fully resumed its operations. The rest of the transport services (boats and seaplanes) also began their regular transfers soon after.
3. As a result of the tsunami in the Maldives, out of 83 hotels, 19 hotels were damaged due to varying degrees of damage, which are marked on the map. 6 of them will be closed for reconstruction for about half a year. The remaining 13 hotels should resume operations in a shorter time (they may have already resumed). Some hotels, such as the Four Seasons, were slightly affected but closed because they wanted to fix all visible problems. Others simply closed the small part that was damaged. Most of the affected hotels suffered damage to water bungalows.
4. 76 local citizens and 3 tourists from Great Britain were killed, 26 local residents were missing. At the time of the tsunami, there were 822 Russian tourists in the Maldives; not a single Russian tourist was harmed by the tsunami in the Maldives.
5. The Ministry of Health of the Maldives, following the guidance of the World Health Organization, has established a surveillance system for possible outbreaks of infectious diseases after the tsunami. However, after the tsunami in the Maldives, no epidemic outbreaks or cases of infectious diseases were observed. For safety reasons, all imported fruits, vegetables and frozen meat are thoroughly checked upon entry into the country. Based on assessments made by the tourism industry in conjunction with the Maldives Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Health confirms that health conditions on the resort islands meet international standards.
6. Back in early January, the governments of countries that had imposed bans on visiting the Maldives immediately after the tsunami, after considering the situation in the country, lifted all bans on travel to the Maldives.
Hot-maldives.ru
The state of the Maldives may soon cease to exist on the world map. They will suffer the fate of the legendary Atlantis - in the place of paradise, soon, perhaps, only sea waves will splash. The reason for this is the terrible tsunami, which claimed the lives of more than 100 thousand people in different countries. A giant wave destroyed the coral reef that protected the islands from the ocean.
One island, whose population was 3.5 thousand people, has already been declared uninhabited by the authorities, since the tsunami made it uninhabitable.
Before the cataclysm, the inhabitants of the Maldives most actively fought against global warming, because the height of the islands above sea level is only one meter. It is believed that global warming will lead to a rise in water levels in the world's oceans, and then the Maldives could completely go under water.
Maldivian government spokesman Ahmed Shahid said that life in some areas of the archipelago is impossible. “If Thailand, India or Sri Lanka are large countries that have land where you can escape, then it is not easy for us to do this,” said a representative of the Maldivian authorities.
The tiny state, whose main income depends on tourism, suffered enormous economic damage. It is valued at $660 million. Ahmed Shahid fears that this amount could exceed the state's annual GDP. The spokesman said that in recent years the standard of living on the islands has increased significantly, which was even recognized by the UN. However, now it can all disappear “in days or even minutes.”
Meanwhile, the Indian army was put on full alert today due to reports of the possibility of a repeat of the terrible tsunami. Not far from the epicenter of the earthquake, which caused a huge wave, new tremors occurred with a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter scale.