Indian Ocean tsunami 2004 news archives from various news, rehabilitation and charity organisations to get an understanding of this deadliest tsunami of modern times. Millions of unsuspecting people were engulfed by a wall of seawater reported to have been as high as 60 feet (18 m). The tsunami swept everything on its way and when the ocean receded entire communities and tourists in over 14 countries had disappeared
- CNN: Earthquake triggers deadly tsunami
- BBC: Tsunami Disaster
- Nature Magazine: Asian Tsunami 2004 Special
On the morning of December 26, 2004, at 7:59am local Sumatra time (0:59am Greenwich mean time) an earthquake occurred off the coast of Sumatra, measuring 9.15 on the Richter scale. The largest earthquake in four decades, it produced a powerful tsunami that struck Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand particularly hard, killing about 227,000 people in 14 countries and leaving 2 million displaced and 1.8 million homeless. It was one of the worst natural catastrophes in the history of the human race. In the last hundred years the only disasters that were in the same league were some earthquakes and floods in China. The deadliest tsunami before this one was the one that killed 36,000 people after the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. About 19,000 people were killed by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.