While for most people that I know, today is a day to relax and enjoy the afterglow from the previous days’ festivities, here in Thailand and across Southeast and Southern Asia it is a day of remembrance. Ten years ago today, the most destructive tsunami in modern history tore through the Indian Ocean and took the lives of over 227,000 people, with more than 5,000 confirmed in Thailand, alone. To this day, there are around 3,000 people who are still missing.
The Earthquake that Caused the Tsunami
At just about 8 a.m. on Sunday, December 26, 2004, a 9.1-9.3 earthquake occurred off the coast of the Indonesia island of Sumatra.
About 600 miles of fault line moved about 10 yards horizontally and several yards vertically. This was the third largest earthquake ever recorded and had the longest duration of any recorded earthquake, lasting somewhere between eight and 10 minutes. I’ve only experienced one earthquake in my life; it was about 5.3 and lasted less than a minute though it felt like five. I cannot imagine how long a 10 minute earthquake would have seemed like.
The energy released by the earthquake is equated to the energy equivalent of over 1500 of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and vibrations were measured for six months after the event.
The Far-Reaching Landfall of the Tsunami
The vertical movement of the north to south fault line is what caused such a large tsunami to occur that the radiated east and west.
The waves were reported to make landfall in Indonesia within 15 minutes and up to seven hours to reach other coasts, like Somalia and South Africa. It was two hours after the earthquake that the tsunami reached the western coast of Thailand, with the provinces of Phang-Nga, Phuket and Krabi being hit the hardest.
Many indigenous people and tribes throughout the region were able to evacuate because of oral traditions that spoke of a shaking of the earth followed by a wall of water. But, for many, the lack of a warning system or emergency plan and infrastructure coupled with being the tourist high season, especially for that region of Thailand resulted in a high number of deaths of not only Thai nationals, but also thousands of foreign tourists.
After the Tsunami in Thailand
While this tragedy was significant in the number of lives lost, close to 5,000 confirmed and over 3,000 still missing and presumed dead, there is a small silver lining. With the international aid that was provided after the disaster, Thailand installed a tsunami warning system and signs to clearly mark tsunami evacuation routes – things that were missing and could have helped reduce the death toll in this instance.
Ten years later, much of the infrastructure has been repaired and replaced: hotels and resorts popped back along the beaches and stores are now selling just as many trinkets and knick knacks as before. In Phang-Nga, one of the harder hit provinces, there is a museum and memorial to the event and today there are many memorial services taking place. I will certainly be taking time out of my day to remember this event and pay respect to the lives that were lost.