Tsunami Case Study - Geography GCSE

Where: Indian Ocean - Affected most of the surrounding countries
When: 26th December 2004

Destructive Plate Margin: 
Indio-Australian Plate subducted below the Eurasian Plate

What happened:

• There was an earthquake measuring 9 on the Richter scale
• The seafloor moved up very quickly, causing a lot of water to be displaced 
• The displaced water triggered a 30m high tsunami 

13 countries in the Indian Ocean were affected, such as Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka

Effects:

• 230,000 people were killed
• Whole towns and villages destroyed
• 1.7 million were homeless
• The infrastructure was severely damaged
• 5-6 million needed emergency supplies
• Huge economic damage

• Fisherman lost livelihood
• Tourists afraid to visit
• Plants couldn't grow due to salty conditions

Short Term

• Foreign countries sent ships, planes, soldiers and teams to help rescue people, distribute food and help clear up
• Millions of pounds pledged by charities

Long Term

• Billions of pounds pledged to rebuild infrastructure
• Programmes set up to rebuild houses
• A tsunami warning system has been put in place
• Volunteers have been trained to help locals if it happens again.