A village near the coast of Sumatra lies in ruinsCountries directly affected by the earthquake and tsunami
The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami occurred on Sunday, December 26, 2004. The earthquake itself, with a moment magnitude of around 9.1-9.3, devastated Aceh Province, Indonesia, while the tsunami affected countries all around the Indian Ocean. Nations which were affected are listed below in alphabetical order. For detailed information about each country affected by the earthquake and tsunami, see their individual articles. Countries with a smaller number of casualties, as well as those that lost citizens who were travelling abroad, are listed further on in the article.
Effect on India
16,269 casualties were reported on 24 November, 2014,[1] most of them in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. There were 5,640 people missing, nearly all of them on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In the meantime, the death toll was decreased[clarify] by 1,458, and the number of missing by 2,927 on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Effect on IndonesiaIndonesia's Ministry of Health confirmed 131,028 deaths on June 18, 2005, mainly in the northern province Aceh of the island Sumatra. Some 37,000 people are missing.
Effect on Malaysia
Despite its proximity to the incident, Malaysia escaped the kind of damage that struck countries thousands of miles further away (most of its western coast is shielded by Sumatra). The estimated number of deaths is 75 with five others missing.[2]
Effect on Myanmar
Independent media reports 90 people killed in Myanmar due to the tsunami. The official death toll is 61. Witnesses in Myanmar estimate up to 600 deaths.
Effect on Somalia
Villages and coastal communities in Somalia, as far as 4,500 km (2,800 mi) from the epicenter of the earthquake, were swept away and destroyed by the huge waves. 176 people were confirmed dead, 136 were missing and more than 50,000 were displaced.
Effect on Sri LankaSri Lankan authorities report 31,229 confirmed deaths, and 4,093 people missing. Other authorities are speaking from 38,940 combined dead and missing people. The south and east coasts were worst hit. Nearly 2,000 of the dead were on the Queen of the Sea holiday train destroyed by the tsunami. One and a half million people were displaced from their homes, and many orphaned or separated from their families.
Effect on Thailand
The Thai government reports 5,395 confirmed deaths, 8,457 injuries and 2,817 missing on 20 June 2005. Damage was confined to the six southern provinces facing the Andaman Sea. The Thai government was keen to point out that the rest of the country was operating normally, and that even some resorts in the south had re-opened.
One boy died after swimming in the Quinera River at Gonubie, close to East London; an adult dead at Blue Horizon Bay near Port Elizabeth, the furthest point from the epicenter of the earthquake where a tsunami-related death was reported. General observations: Ocean level variance two to three meters outside normal reported in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, and a surge of 1.5 m was observed as far as Struisbaai in the Western Cape, 8500 km from the epicentre of the earthquake. Some steps were taken in South Africa to warn ports and disaster management centers, although full details are not public.
Large concrete blocks were uprooted in East London harbor, where boats also broke from their moorings. Boats and cars were submerged at the Algoa Bay Yacht Club in Port Elizabeth harbor. Durban harbor, Africa's busiest general cargo port and home to the largest and busiest container terminal in the Southern Hemisphere, was closed for some time on 27 December because of unusually strong surges across the entrance channel.
Tremors felt along the north-western coast, with some minor flooding. Seas off Western Australia reportedly surged between Geraldton (425 km north of Perth) and Busselton (230 km south of Perth); several boats were ripped from their moorings, and a father and son in a boat were washed out to sea, but were later rescued. No direct casualties were reported within Australia.
Despite initial worries about Cocos (Keeling) Islands, no casualties were reported. People swimming at Christmas Island were sucked 150m out to sea, but were safely carried back to shore soon thereafter. At roughly 2pm that day, a single wave surged (between 5 and 10 m beyond the normal high-water point) on Mullaloo Beach, Perth, briefly startling and engulfing several people. No injuries were reported.
Flooding in low-lying coastal districts. No reported casualties. Waves, reported variously between 1.6 and 10 metres in height, swept through southeastern coastal areas. Over a thousand locals were displaced. Problems were further exacerbated by the approach of Cyclone Chambo.
No reports of casualties; however, a village in the north of the island was completely submerged. Police issued warnings to bathers to stay out of the water, although this had the opposite effect, with crowds thronging the beaches to watch the phenomenon. Speculation is that coral reefs surrounding much of the island protected the coastline.
26 Australians (23 in Thailand and three in Sri Lanka) were confirmed to have lost their lives.[7] Earlier fears that several hundred Australians may have died were revised: Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty put the likely death toll at between 30 and 100, and other sources said the final number will be about 50. AFL player Troy Broadbridge, who was on his honeymoon with his wife, was confirmed as one of the dead. Australians were asked to observe a minute's silence at 11:59am.
The Brazilian diplomat Lys Amayo de Benedek D'Avola and her 10-year-old son died in Phi Phi, Thailand.[10] At first, a list of about 300 people who were unaccounted for was put together. One by one, however, all the people were found, either in hospitals, already home or in other countries.
45 people dead and 1 listed as missing (as of July 18, 2005). Of the dead, 43 died in Thailand. A young female tourist and a Danish resident died in Sri Lanka.
54 Italians died in the disaster, mostly in Thailand.[12][13] About 10,000 to 12,000 Italian citizens were in the region, according to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Apart from the casualties on Malaysian soil, there are further 6 Malaysian vacationers confirmed dead and 5 were missing in Phuket, Thailand, 1 was confirmed dead in Sri Lanka, 2 Malaysian students reported dead in Banda Aceh, Indonesia and 10 Malaysians were missing in Chennai, India.[14] 3 Malaysians who were on holiday in Mauritius who were initially reported missing, were found safe.[15]
There are currently 36 confirmed Dutch deaths. The last official victim was identified on August 3, 2005. About 5 people remain unaccounted for in the sense that it is not clear if they were in the disaster area at the time of the tsunami. These are people who had not been in touch with family or friends in the Netherlands for some time before the tsunami, and were filed as "regular missing persons".
According to Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs one Polish tourist died and 12 people were missing. Three people were hospitalised in Phuket and Krabi. The number of Polish tourists in the affected areas was estimated to be around 2,000.
Five reported dead and 4 still missing, from a total of 230 Portuguese thought to be in the region at the time, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The deaths of two Romanian tourists in Phuket, Thailand were initially reported, but they were later found safe. It is estimated that over 20 Romanian tourists were in the affected region, but according to Gaginschi Cristian, representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there is no evidence that any Romanian citizen was affected by the earthquake.
At least 2 died in Phuket, Thailand, and 7 are missing, according to the Russian Embassy. About 800 Russian tourists were in Phuket alone. Around 250 Russian tourists were in Sri Lanka, all of whom are safe.
Casualties in South East Asia: 14 South Africans were confirmed dead. All these 14 people died in Phuket or on the Phi Phi Islands, Thailand. By 26 January 2005 the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation had traced the whereabouts of all 2,896 South Africans who were known to have been in South East Asia at the time of the disaster. This includes those confirmed dead.[16]
Sweden was likely the most seriously affected country outside of the disaster area. According to Swedish authorities, some 20,000–30,000 citizens were in the tsunami-affected areas at the time, mainly in Thai resorts. 543 persons were reported deceased, and over 1,500 in need of emergency medical help and/or transportation home. 528 bodies had been identified as of May 16, 2006.[17] The Swedish government and especially the minister for foreign affairs Laila Freivalds was heavily criticized for being slow to act.
Over 2,200 Swiss nationals are estimated to have been in the affected area at the time of disaster. 106 have been confirmed as deceased by the Department of Foreign Affairs, and many more injured; 6 persons are still missing (as of 20 November 2005).
Three confirmed dead, and many injured. Thirty-five fishing boats from Taiwan in Phuket, Thailand, were beached and damaged; sailors suffered minor injuries.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, one Turkish national killed in Phuket, Thailand. A plane, which was sent to Maldives by Turkish government to gather all the Turks in the region, returned with only 13 survivors and AKUT, a well-known Turkish search and rescue organisation that was taken there by the plane. Turkish GSM operator Turkcell announced that signals from 2,500 of its subscribers were received in the area, meaning at least 2,500 Turks were present when the disaster occurred.[18]
The US State Department reports 18 dead and 15 missing, presumed dead. Nine died in Sri Lanka and 24 in Thailand. The State Department was working through a list of 18 unaccounted for as of February 8. It is understood that the U.S./UK military installation at the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia was unaffected by the disaster.
^"Toten ihre Namen zurückgeben" [Give back their Names to the dead] (PDF). Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs (in German). Retrieved 13 November 2022.
