Phuket
At approximately 7am a ferocious tsunami hit Phuket, wreaking destruction in its path. Although the tsunami that hit Phuket was a much weaker then the ones that hit Indonesia and coastal areas of southern Asia, many areas of Phuket were destroyed.
The earthquake was triggered when the Burma and Indian plates moved approximately 15 metres and released the energy equivalent to more than 20,000 nuclear bombs. As a direct result of this a series of tsunamis formed, just off the coast of Sumatra, and headed in all directions. The areas that were hit the hardest were India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia and even as far as Somalia (over 5000 kilometers from the epicentre).
How do Earthquakes cause Tsunamis?
The earth is made up of several tectonic plates, which "float" on the earth's mantle. Like a cork floating on water, these tectonic plates are constantly moving. The result of this is that they are constantly crashing into each other, moving apart from each other and sliding past each other. The earthquake that occurred on Boxing Day 2004 was caused when the Indian plate slid approximately 15 meters underneath the Burma plate. The result of this violent motion caused a major displacement of water directly above the earthquake. Once the water is displaced it travels outwards in all directions, much like a stone being dropped in a pond.
Once the tsunami was formed, it traveled outwards in all directions from the epicentre of the earthquake at speeds of up to 800 kilometres per hour. As it neared the coastline, the tsunami slowed down and gained height (up to 5 metres extra).
Once the tsunami had hit the coastline it caused mass destruction and resulted in the deaths of just under 230,000 people, with another 35,000 still missing.
The Boxing Day tsunami was the most destructive tsunami to ever hit a coastline in recent history. The death toll was just under 230,000 people, almost 5 times the death toll of the second most destructive tsunami in recent history (40,000 deaths occurring in the Chinese Sea).
Tsunami early detection systems
At this present moment, the pacific and Indian oceans have approximately 35 deployed “early detection systems”, with another 10 being planned. Although these systems give a minimum of 10 minutes before the tsunami hits the coastline (allowing for evacuation), they do not prevent a tsunami causing mass destruction on the coastline it hits.
Tsunami Barriers
The Japanese coast is littered with tsunami barriers to defend Japan, which lies on a fault, from tsunamis. The Japanese barriers are strong and efficient, made from reinforced concrete with a canal behind it to hold any water that may happen to crash over the barrier. Countries like India, which have been devastated by the tsunami, have started to build basic tsunami barriers by planting trees along the coastline. However, unlike the Japanese tsunami barriers which are designed to withstand the immense force of a tsunami, barriers such as the ones in India will do almost nothing to deter a tsunami. Instead, the tsunami will most likely rip out the trees and crash them into more buildings, causing even more destruction. I recommend all countries that are in a tsunami prone area to build tsunami barriers like those in Japan. These barriers could prevent the deaths of thousands of people.
The signs of a tsunami and evacuation plan
If an education program was implemented into tsunami prone countries then the death toll of future tsunamis could be heavily decreased. One of the most obvious signs of a tsunami is the tide goes out hundreds of meters, leaving exposed beach. If the various settlements along tsunami prone coastlines could tell the signs of a tsunami and had a well planned tsunami evacuation route then the fatalities witnessed on the Boxing Day tsunami will hopefully be an occurrence of the past.
The Effects of a Tsunami
Long Term Effects (2004-2014+)
One of the severe long term effects of the tsunami, which will last around 20 years, is the loss of tourism due to the destruction of coral reefs. Every year thousands of people go to Phuket to see the beauty of its coral reefs, however, when the tsunami hit all the coral was obliterated. This also has major economic implications due to the loss in tourism to Phuket and various other areas simply due to the fact that there is nothing to see anymore.
Short Term Effects (2004-2014)
Disease was estimated to have killed almost as many people who died in the tsunami (When the tsunami it coastal areas all of the major sewers overflowed, causing not only the streets to be filled with human faecal materials, but also making safe waste disposal almost impossible. The result of this was a mass outbreak of diseases such as gastroenteritis (or “gastro”), cholera and dysentery.
Other short term effects include loss of housing, hospitals, fisheries and food stores. Thousands of people were left without clean water, a house, medical facilities and food for up to 1 month. Most areas that were affected by the tsunami were poor and rely on tourism to stay prosperous. The tsunami wiped out most tourism opportunities and the result of this is that housing could take years to rebuild simply due to lack of funding. Even now, over 3 years after the disaster, houses are still being rebuilt through the efforts of charity organisations such as the world vision tsunami appeal.
