LOST LIVELIHOODS
ENVIROMENTAL DAMAGE
ASSESSING IMPACT AND VULNERABILITY
EARLY WARING
CHALLENGES FOR THE FUTURE

On 26 December 2004, an undersea earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale took place in the Indian Ocean, off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia.

It caused one of the deadliest disasters in recent times, as resulting tsunami waves crashed into the coastlines of twelve countries bordering the Indian Ocean, causing massive losses in human life and infrastructure, and damage to marine and terrestrial ecosystems.

This was the fourth largest earthquake in magnitude in the last hundred years (Table 1), resulting in one of the deadliest tsunamis in recent times (Table 2). Over 220 000 people in Asia were killed by the tsunami, mostly in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand, with smaller numbers in East Africa (BBC 2005). As the waves moved through the Indian Ocean at over 500 km/h (UNOCHA 2005a) (Figure 1), countries as far away as those in East Africa were affected, including Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like Seychelles and Mauritius, and mainland countries like Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania. Casualties were particularly high among children and women - for instance, in India, 40 per cent of the dead were estimated to be children (UNOCHA 2004a).

More than 5 million people were displaced as houses and villages were flattened by giant waves. The province of Aceh in northern Sumatra experienced the greatest impact from waves exceeding 15 metres in height (NASA 2005). The city of Banda Aceh was severely damaged. Bridges were destroyed and ships were overturned as the waves advanced towards the surrounding foothills. In the Maldives, where 53 islands suffered severe damage and 10 per cent of the 1 200 islands and atolls were totally destroyed, approximately 12 200 people were registered as homeless, of whom 8 500 had to be evacuated to other islands (UNOCHA 2005b).

In the short term, millions of people, particularly children, face the risk of disease due to polluted water, damaged sanitation systems and crowded living conditions in camps and the remaining housing (WHO 2005). However, the impact of this disaster will be felt for decades to come. Drinking water sources such as wells and groundwater have been contaminated by saline water, and will take years to recover. Infrastructure has been severely damaged and livelihoods are critically impacted, particularly those related to fisheries, agriculture and tourism.