#Tsunami: 16 Years Ago, another catastrophe had struck us

The following day of Christmas, 16 years ago was not a very calm one as it is today , although this calmness is attributed to a killer corona virus on the loose. Netizens chose to remember and pay tribute to the lives lost in the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the resulting tsunami.

Also known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and in scientific terms, the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 in local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2014, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia. It was an undersea mega earthquake that registered a magnitude of 9.1–9.3 Mw, reaching a Mercalli intensity up to 9 in certain areas. The earthquake was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate.

As a result of the earthquake, a series of massive tsunami waves grew up to 30 m/100 ft high. Communities along the surrounding coasts of the Indian Ocean were severely affected, and the tsunamis killed an estimated 227,898 people in 14 countries, making it, as far as now, the deadliest natural disaster in the 21st century. The direct results caused major disruptions to living conditions and commerce in coastal provinces of surrounded countries such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. The city of Banda Aceh in Indonesia reported the largest number of deaths.

The Boxing Day tsunami is believed to be the deadliest tsunami in history, killing more than 230,000 people across 14 countries:

Going by the defination, a tsunami is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami.

The international community pledged more than 14 billion dollars in aid in the wake of the disaster.

The Horizon "looked wrong"

"We came to rest at a beautiful spot with limestone columns jutting out of the sea. I felt so happy at that moment I wanted to take a picture of my mother and sister", as reported to the BBC by a survivor. "When I lowered my camera the air felt different somehow. It felt wrong. I looked out to sea and in the very distance I could see a ridge, a wave, moving towards us across the sea which was otherwise flat. I knew something was very wrong."

The tsunami initiated a series of scientific reforms which led to many countries like India adopting Tsunami Early Warning Systems. The Ministry of Earth Sciences took up the responsibility of establishing the Indian Tsunami Early Warning System (ITEWS). The ITEWS was established in 2007 and is based at  and operated by Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad.

London's Natural History Museum erected a memorial for the people who lost their lives in the disaster and many organizations extended support and rehabilitation of those displaced:

Checkbrand.online pays tribute and condolence to all those who lost their lives or the people who they cared about. As humanity continues to battle another catastrophe, let us hope that we build a sustainable relationship with the nature for none, even the gods, can withstand the sheer force it posesses. 

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