20 Years of Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004
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20 Years of Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004

Context

  • 26th December 2024, marked the 20th anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

More on News

  • The tsunami generated by the quake of magnitude 9.1 was sourced off the Sumatran coast and was the third largest [Others two: Chile, 1960 (magnitude 9.5) and Alaska, 1964 (magnitude 9.2)] in the world since 1900.
  • Others two: Chile, 1960 (magnitude 9.5) and Alaska, 1964 (magnitude 9.2)
  • The source was 30 km below the ocean floor, in the Sunda trench, where part of the Indo-Australian plate subducts beneath the Burma microplate, which is a part of the Eurasian plate.
  • The quake was felt in Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
  • It caused severe damage and killed hundreds in Northern Sumatra and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The tsunami was most impactful on distant shores, affecting 17 countries lining the Indian Ocean.
  • The tsunami caused an estimated 227,000+ deaths, making it the deadliest in recorded history.

About Tsunami

  • Tsunamis are classified as shallow-water waves due to their extremely long wavelengths, often exceeding 300 miles (500 km), unlike wind-generated waves that span only 100–200 meters.
  • Since a tsunami has a very large wavelength, it will lose little energy as it propagates.
  • Hence in very deep water, a tsunami will travel at high speeds and travel great transoceanic distances with limited energy loss.
  • As a tsunami leaves the deep water of the open sea and propagates into the more shallow waters near the coast, it undergoes a transformation. Since the speed of the tsunami is related to the water depth, as the depth of the water decreases, the speed of the tsunami diminishes.
  • Therefore, the speed of the tsunami decreases as it enters shallower water, and the height of the wave grows.

Initiatives Were Taken after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

  • Early Warning Systems: The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) was established in 2007 by the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences.
  • Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS): ITEWC, based at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) in Hyderabad, uses seismological stations, bottom pressure recorders, and tidal stations throughout the Indian Ocean basin to detect and issue early tsunami warnings.
  • India became the 5th country globally to have an advanced tsunami warning system, joining the US, Japan, Chile, and Australia.
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