Contemporary · Southeast Asia · Disaster

2004

Indian Ocean Tsunami

December 26, 2004

A magnitude-9.1 earthquake off Sumatra unleashed tsunamis that radiated across the Indian Ocean at jet speed, striking Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand within hours. Two hundred and thirty thousand people died in fourteen countries. There was no warning system. The disaster, captured on tourist cameras, produced the largest international relief effort in history.