CASE STUDY

ON
EFFECTS OF TSUNAMI-2004

BY

ANSAL VIJAYVARGIYA

11CE022

PANKAJ SHARMA

11CE027

SANDEEP YADAV

11CE031

BHARAT KHULLAR

11CE046

MANISH SINGHAL

11CE037

LINGAYAS UNIVERSITY, FARIDABAD

SESSION 2014-2015

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the case study titled as effects of tsunami-2004 submitted to the
Lingayas University, FARIDABAD, for the award of the degree of Technology in Civil
Engineering, is a bonafide record of research work carried out by him under my supervision
and guidance. The Candidates has fulfilled all the prescribed requirements.

Date : May,2015

Mrs. Vidhi Tiwari

Place : Faridabad

(Assistant professor)
Department of Civil Engineering

Lingayas University

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to extend my gratitude and my sincere thanks to
my honourable, esteemed supervisor Mrs. Vidhi
Tiwari(Asst.Prof.),Department of Civil Engineering.
I sincerely thank for her exemplary guidance and
encouragement. Her trust and support inspired me in the most
important moments of making right decisions and I am glad to
work with her/

All faculty of Department of Civil Engineering rendered me

enormous support during the whole tenure of my stay in
Lingayas University, Faridabad.

CASE STUDY: TSUNAMI, 2004

On 26 December 2004 a tsunami occurred in the Indian Ocean. It
was the result of the Indio-Australian Plate sub ducting below the
Eurasian Plate. It was caused by an earthquake measuring more

than magnitude 9. The earthquake caused the seafloor to uplift,

displacing the seawater above.
In Open Ocean the tsunami measured less than 1 metre high.
The tsunami travelled at speeds up to 800km per hour.
When the Tsunami reached the shores, the height of the wave
increased to 15 metres in some areas.

This tsunami was particularly devastating because:

The earthquake which caused the tsunami was magnitude 9.
The epicentre was very close to some densely populated
coastal communities, eg. Indonesia. They had little or no
warning. The only sign came just before the tsunami struck
when the waterline suddenly retreated, exposing hundreds of
metres of beach and seabed.
There was no Indian Ocean tsunami warning system in place.
This could have saved more people in other countries further
away from the epicentre.
Many of the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean
are LEDCs so they could not afford to spend much on
preparation and prevention.

 In some coastal areas, mangrove forests had been removed to

make way for tourist developments and therefore there was
less natural protection.

SOCIAL IMPACTS OF THE TSUNAMI (EFFECTS ON PEOPLE)

There were over 2,30, 000 deaths.

About 1.7 million people became homeless.
About 5-6 million people needed emergency aid, eg. food and
water.
The threat of disease from mixing of fresh water, sewage and
salt water was high.
About 1,500 villages were destroyed in northern Sumatra.

ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF THE TSUNAMI (EFFECTS ON MONEY AND

JOBS)

 The Ports were ruined.

The Fishing industry was devastated boats, nets and
equipment destroyed. An estimated 60% of Sri Lankas fishing
fleet destroyed.
The reconstruction cost billions of dollars.
Loss of earnings from tourism - foreign visitors to Phuket
dropped 80% in 2005.
Communications were damaged, eg roads, bridges and rail
networks.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF THE TSUNAMI

The crops were destroyed.
All the Farm land was ruined by salt water.
Nearly 8 million litres of oil escaped from oil plants in
Indonesia.
Mangrove forests along the coast were destroyed.
Coral reefs and coastal wetlands damaged.

RESPONSES TO THE TSUNAMI

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and local authorities

typically have immediate and secondary responses to devastation
of this kind.

IMMEDIATE RESPONSES

Main thing was Search and rescue.

The main need was Emergency food and water.
Medical care was to be taken care of injured.
Temporary shelter was to be made so that people can stay at a
place .
Re-establishing infrastructure and communications.

SECONDARY RESPONSES
Re-building and improving infrastructure and housing.
Providing jobs and supporting small businesses.

 Giving advice and technical assistance.

Responses to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami can also be

divided into short and long term:

SHORT-TERM RESPONSES

In many areas local communities were cut off and had to help
themselves.
The authorities ordered quick burial or burning of the dead to
avoid the spread of disease.
Food aid was provided to millions of people, eg from the World
Food Programme.
$7 billion (just under 4.5billion) of aid was promised by
foreign governments but there were complaints that not all
money pledged was given.
The British public gave 330 million through charities, eg. the
average Action aid donation was 84 their best ever
response.

LONG-TERM RESPONSES
Reconstruction is still taking place.
International scale: an Indian Ocean tsunami warning system
has now been set up.
Local scale: some small-scale sustainable development
projects have been set up by charities to aid recovery and help
local people help themselves to rebuild and set up small
businesses.

IMPACT ON INDIA

According to Indian government, almost 11,000 people

died in the tsunami and over 5000 were missing and
feared dead.
It is estimated the 3,80,000 indians have been displaced
by the disaster.
The reconstruction is expected to cost more than 1.2
billion dollars
(World Bank) .
The areas hardest hit by the tsunami were the southern
coast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Chowra Island lost about two-thirds of population(1500) in
tsunami.
On Car Nicobar, one hundred members of the Indian Air
Force and their families perished when the waves
submerged the local air base.
Nagapattinam district was the worst hit region of Tamil
Nadu, accounting for over half of the deaths (5,500) from
the tsunami on the Indian mainland.
Around 80% of the people affected came from fishing
communities and over 50,000 vessels were damaged by
the waves.
Indian officials estimate that it will cost 125 million dollars
to repair the ships and replace fishing equipment.

THE FUTURE

The Indian government has also pledged $29 million to develop a

tsunami early warning system to prevent such a large loss of life
from ever happening again. The United States has agreed to work
alongside the Indian government to place roughly 20 data buoys
around the Indian Ocean to alert scientists of a possible tsunami. It
is estimated that the entire project will take two years to complete.
The Indian Ocean system will be completely independent of the

Pacific warning system in Hawaii, however the two countries will

share data and scientific information to learn more about tsunamis.