Case study: Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004
Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004
A very common case study for earthquakes is the South-East Asian tsunami of 2004. Other case studies include Mexico 1985, San Francisco 1989, Kobe 1995 and Pakistan 2005.
The causes and effects of the 2004 Asian tsunami
The underlying causes
On 26 December 2004 there was a massive and sudden movement of the Earth’s crust under the Indian Ocean. This earthquake was recorded at magnitudeThe size or severity of something. For example, an earthquake. 9 on the Richter scaleThe measure by which the strength of earthquakes is determined. and as it happened under the ocean, caused a devastating sea wave called a tsunami.
The epicentreThe point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake. of the earthquake occurred 200 kilometres west of the island of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. The earthquake itself was caused by the subductionWhen one crustal plate is forced beneath the other. of the Indo-Australian plate under the Eurasian plate.
As the Indian plate (part of the Indo-Australian plate) moved underneath the Burma plate (part of the Eurasian plate) the crustal rocks stuck as they moved past one another. At 08:00 local time, the pressure build up was too great and the crustal rocks snapped, causing an earthquake.
When this happened the sea floorThe bottom of the ocean. was pushed upwards displacing a huge volume of water and creating the devastating tsunami waves.
Impact on landscape and population
Landscape
- Some smaller islands in the Indian Ocean were completely destroyed.
- Coastal buildings were completely destroyed making people homeless.
- fishing villagesA small settlement where the main activity is catching fish. were completely destroyed.
- lines of communicationThis refers to telephone cables and electricity power lines as well as roads and railways., including phone lines, were cut off.
- Electricity power lines were cut off.
- Roads and railways were destroyed.
- Fires broke out due to severed water pipes.
People
- Approximately 250,000 people are estimated to have been killed, including many touristSomeone who travels for recreation or business purposes. on the beaches of Thailand.
- There was an outbreak of diseases such as cholera due to a lack of fresh water supplies.
- There was a lack of food as many fish died and farms were destroyed.
- Thousands of people were made homeless.
- Thousands of people lost their jobs as tourist hotels in Thailand were destroyed and fishing vessels were washed ashore.
