Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami Research Paper

International Disaster:

The Indian Ocean 2004 Tsunami and Earthquake

The International Response to the Indian Ocean Disaster of 2004

The National Geographic has called the Indian Ocean Tsunami and Earthquake of 2004 the deadliest disaster in history. The disaster itself killed well above 200,000 individuals from over five different countries. The magnitude of the earthquake was above 9.0, and there were no ways in which to let the individuals in these five countries know what was coming. The death toll was high, the destruction even more massive. The power of the earthquake-generated tsunami rivaled that of all weapons (including nuclear devices) utilized in the Second World War. The international community thus had one of the shortest time frames to respond to the largest documented disaster in human history. With many villages destroyed or isolated, as well as less than utilizable roadways and runways for supplies to flow in, the international community found itself in a precarious position to respond. The following paragraphs will analyze how this community finally banded together to help those in need, and will place this disaster side by side with other, potentially larger and more devastating, future disasters.

First, it is important to analyze the way in which the international community responded to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. As aforementioned, the National Geographic called this an incredible disaster, stating, "The earthquake that generated the great Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 is estimated to have released the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)."

The source further states that this particular earthquake, especially given its high rating on the Richter scale, was the result of several subduction processes underneath the seabed.This meant that a plate had slid under a portion of the Earth's crust and had thereby caused a shock, which further cause the earthquake, then the tsunami. The rupture caused by this sliding, which was about 10 meters led "trillions of tons of rock, that were moved along hundreds of miles, […] to shudder with the largest magnitude earthquake…"

Though many disasters, especially in developed countries, never reach the kind of life loss seen in the aftermath of this disaster, and despite geologists' knowledge of the events taking place, there was no network of communication that could warn the people of Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, etc. that a tsunami would follow the earthquake they had all felt. Because of this, many people in these countries were taken by the surprise and entire cities, such as Aceh in Indonesia, were completely wiped out.

The international response was quick, in this case, but ineffective due to the circumstances mentioned above. There was much criticism, because of this fact, that developed countries, especially the United States and those in Western Europe, could have done much more to help. NGOs such as Direct Relief International state that they have done a lot in the past few years to ensure that the survivors of the tsunami have the proper means with which to move forwards. This website states that the Direct Relief program raised more than $13 million in cash grants, and over $40 million in medicines, supplies, and equipment, supplies which "have been deployed for tsunami relief to nearly 90 local partners in India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia."

The….....