Nineteen years ago, the world witnessed one of the deadliest disasters. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami killed more than 2,30,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and nine other countries. On the morning after Christmas in 2004, a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the coast of the northern island of Sumatra triggered a tsunami with waves up to 17.4 meters high that inundated vulnerable coastal areas in several countries.
It is also known as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake or the Boxing Day tsunami. According to a CNN According to the report, the tremors were so strong that it was one of the few times when the entire world shook and no part of the Earth remained motionless. “Globally, this earthquake was large enough to essentially shake the entire planet by as much as a half inch or an inch. Everywhere we had instruments we could see movements,” said Charles Ammon, associate professor of geosciences at Penn State University. that time.
From ReutersAfter the tsunami, the death toll continued to rise and bodies were strewn across the streets, waiting to be picked up. Hospitals and mortuaries struggled to deal with injured and stunned victims and bloated corpses.
In Indonesia, the tsunami swallowed up most of the coastline, displacing about 5,70,000 people and destroying 1,79,000 houses and buildings. Meanwhile, in India, about 10,000 people died, mostly women and children in Chennai. Sri Lanka was the next worst-hit country with around 40,000 deaths, while in Thailand almost 5,400 people died, including many foreign tourists.
A 900-mile stretch of the Australian and Indian plates was shattered by the 2004 earthquake, which occurred 31 miles below the ocean's surface. The earthquake released as much pent-up energy as several thousand atomic bombs over the course of 10 brutal minutes, instead of causing just one powerful jolt, according to History.com.
Several people took to X, formerly Twitter, and remembered the victims of the terrible tragedy.
“Today marks 19 years since that disaster, who knows how many families it left orphaned and homeless. My humble tribute to everyone caught up in this devastation,” said one user.
Another wrote: “December 26 always reminds me of the year 2004. The worst disaster ever witnessed in our lifetime.”
“Remembering the lives lost in the devastating tsunami of 2004. A moment to honor their memory, reflect on resilience and unite in solidarity. May we never forget the impact and continue to work towards a world better prepared for such tragedies,” one person wrote.