Tsunami Case Study Indian Ocean

Question 1

What is a tsunami?

Answer 1

A tsunami is a series of enormous waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of water.
-they can be caused by earthquakes triggered by moving sections of the Earth’s crust under the ocean.

Question 2

What was the cause of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004?

Answer 2

• there is a destructive plate margin along the west coast of Indonesia in the Indian Ocean
• there was an 9.1 magnitude earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra (a large Indonesian island)
• the denser plate that was moving down into the mantle cracked and moved very quickly which caused a large amount of water to be displaced. This triggered a tsunami with waves up to 30m high

Question 3

Why were the effects of the tsunami so bad?

Answer 3

There was no warning system

Question 4

What countries were affected by the tsunami?

Answer 4

Most countries bordering the Indian Ocean e.g. Indonesia, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka

Question 5

What were the effects of the tsunami?

Answer 5

• 230 000 people killed / still missing
• whole towns and villages destroyed - 1.7 million lost their home
• infrastructure of many countries severely damaged
• 5-6 million people needed emergency food, water and medical supplies
• massive economic damage - fishermen lost livelihood, tourism industry suffered due to destruction and people were afraid to go on holiday there
• massive environmental damage - salt from seawater means plants cant grow; mangroves, coral reefs, sand dunes and forests also destroyed by waves

Question 6

What were the short-term responses?

Answer 6

• within days, hundreds of millions of pounds had been pledged by foreign governments, charities, businesses etc.to give survivors access to food, water, shelter, and medical attention
• foreign countries sent ships, planes and teams of specialists to help rescue people, distribute food and water, and begin clearing up

Question 7

What were the long-term responses?

Answer 7

• billions of pounds pledged to re-build the infrastructure of countries affected
• programmes set up to re-build houses and help people get back to work
• tsunami warning system put in place in Indian Ocean
• disaster management plans put in place in some countries. Volunteers trained so locals know what to do if another tsunami occurs

Question 8

When did the tsunami occur?

Answer 8

26th December 2004 (Boxing Day)

Question 9

What is livelihood?

Answer 9

Means of securing the necessities of life

Question 10

What is infrastructure?

Answer 10

Basic facilities/installations required to help a country run

Question 11

What is a mangrove?

Answer 11

A small shrub that has roots submerged in water