Indian Ocean 2004

Question 1

Key statistics of 2004 Indian Ocean disaster.

Answer 1

Magnitude: 9.3
Deaths: ~250,000
Economic cost: $9.4 Billion

Question 2

Social impacts of 2004 Indian Ocean disaster.

Answer 2

• 250,000 killed (40% tourists)
• Medical services overwhelmed/destroyed.
• Outbreak of cholera
• Lack of food as fish farms destroyed
• Thousands of people lost jobs in tourism sector
• Infrastructure (power, communications, water mains) destroyed.

Question 3

Environmental impacts of Indian Ocean disaster.

Answer 3

• Reefs in Maldives destroyed.
• Some coastlines completely remodelled.

Question 4

Response to Indian Ocean disaster

Answer 4

• Created a Tsunami warning system (IOTWS) in 2006 as there previously was not one.
• Improved public awareness to educate tourists on what to do during disaster.

Question 5

Why was the Indian Ocean vulnerable?

Answer 5

• Tourists were uneducated about what to do in this situation, a lot of natives knew when the water retreats, to get to high ground.
• No prediction and warning system.
• Some natives refused to evacuate because of ancestral ties to the land, and it was all they had with no alternatives.
• Some communities lacked the knowledge about how to respond to tsunamis safely.