2004 Indian Ocean and Thailand Tsunami
On December 6th, 2004 an earthquake in the Indian Ocean caused a tsunami to collide with Thailand's coast. The earth quake was thought to have the energy of a 23,000 Hiroshima-type atomic bombs. The epicentre of the 9.0 magnitude quake was under the Indian Ocean near the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Powerful shock waves were sent in all directions because of the violent movement of sections of the Earth’s crusts known as tectonic plates which displaced an enormous amount of water. For thousand of years tectonic plates in this area had been pushing against each other, building pressure for years and will most likely continue to do so.
The killer waves which came from the 600 mile long earthquake, hit the coast of eleven countries in the Indian Ocean, within hours. All the victims were taken completely by surprise because their was no tsunami warning. The Indian ocean tsunami travelled as far as 3,000 miles to Africa where the force of the waves were still strong enough to destroy properties and take the lives of many people.
The earthquake - induced tsunami killed 155,000 people and injured another 500,000. The cost of all the damages exceeds $10 billion and it is also estimated that 5 million people lost their homes and access to food and water.
Scroll down for photos of the devastating event.
The killer waves which came from the 600 mile long earthquake, hit the coast of eleven countries in the Indian Ocean, within hours. All the victims were taken completely by surprise because their was no tsunami warning. The Indian ocean tsunami travelled as far as 3,000 miles to Africa where the force of the waves were still strong enough to destroy properties and take the lives of many people.
The earthquake - induced tsunami killed 155,000 people and injured another 500,000. The cost of all the damages exceeds $10 billion and it is also estimated that 5 million people lost their homes and access to food and water.
Scroll down for photos of the devastating event.