Worldwide death toll from the disaster in the Indian Ocean climbed to 230,000; damage estimated at $13 billion.
John Bechtel
At 7:59 a.m. (local time) on the day after Christmas in 2004, the third-largest earthquake ever recorded struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island, unleashing a deadly tsunami on millions of people who weren’t prepared for the devastation.
Known as the Indian Ocean Tsunami, the temblor’s sheer force caused a gigantic sea-level rise that rippled across the waterway rapidly, striking over a dozen countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the eastern seaboard of Africa, on Dec. 26.
"The [9.1 magnitude] quake displaced a massive volume of water to generate a global tsunami, which reached some areas within 20 minutes and others in seven hours. The tsunami was observed by more than 100 coastal water-level stations in the Atlantic and Pacific ocean basins," the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA) reported.
“One of the hard-to-grasp statistics from the tsunami were wave heights that reached 167 feet in Indonesia’s Aceh province in northern Sumatra, which resulted in flooding up to three miles inland.”
After the waters finally calmed down, the death toll globally climbed to about 230,000, including about 167,000 in Aceh, according to NOAA, which estimated damage at U.S. $13 billion.
In the hours and days after the tsunami, photographers in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand captured images showing the devastation throughout the region.
THAILAND-ASIA-QUAKE-TSUNAMI-TOURISTS Tourists wander out into the water as the Indian Ocean tsunami rolls toward Hat Rai Lay Beach, near Krabi in southern Thailand, Dec. 26, 2004. [AFP] (-/AFP) THAILAND-QUAKE-HOSPITAL-WOMAN A Thai medical orderly pushes a tourist injured by tsunami waters for treatment at Phuket International Hospital in Phuket, Dec. 26, 2004. [Saeed Khan/AFP] (SAEED KHAN/AFP) A view of the damage caused by a tsunami at a beach in Phuket. The tsunami slammed boats onto a beach in Phuket, Thailand, Dec. 26, 2004. [Reuters] (Stringer Thailand/REUTERS) General view of Ton Sai Bay in Thailand's Phi Phi island. The tsunami left a path of devastation at Ton Sai Bay on Thailand’s Phi Phi island, as seen two days later, Dec. 28, 2004. [Luis Enrique Ascui/Reuters] (Luis Enrique Ascui/REUTERS) THAILAND-QUAKE-TSUNAMIS Tourists on Thailand’s Phuket island look at a bus toppled by the tsunami, Dec. 26, 2004. [AFP] (STRINGER/AFP) THAILAND-QUAKE-TSUNAMIS A Thai police officer walks past debris left by the tsunami after it struck Phuket, Dec. 26, 2004. [AFP] (STRINGER/AFP) INDONESIA-QUAKE-FLEE A woman carries a small child as they and two men flee Kuala Keureutoe village in Lhokseumawe, Indonesia, Dec. 26, 2004. [AFP] (-/AFP) THAILAND-QUAKE A Thai woman collects her belongings from debris near the shoreline of Pathong beach, Thailand a day after the deadly tsunami struck the region, Dec. 27, 2004. [Saeed Khan/AP] (SAEED KHAN/AFP) Kusol Wetchakul offers prayers for the soul of his sister, a tsunami victim, at dawn along the beach near Khao Lak, Thailand, Dec. 29, 2004. [David Longstreath/AP] (David Longstreath/AP) Thai soldiers carry a coffin in Phang Nga province where a tsunami hit the area. Thai soldiers carry a coffin needed for a tsunami victim in Phang Nga province, Dec. 28, 2004. [Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters] (Chaiwat Subprasom/REUTERS) Rescue workers search for the bodies of victims of Sunday's tsunami in Phang Nga province, Thailand. Crews in Phang Nga province, Thailand, search for bodies of victims near a police boat pushed ashore by the tsunami, Dec. 28, 2004. [Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters] (Chaiwat Subprasom) Children standing in a rice paddy on the outskirts of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, look up as they wait for relief supplies to be tossed from a helicopter, Jan. 17, 2005. [Eugene Hoshiko/AP] (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)
