DISASTER MANAGEMENT

2004 INDIAN OCEAN EARTHQUAKE & TSUNAMI

BY:- JASMINE PURUSHOTTAM(491)

ANANYA BANDI(548)
WHEN AND HOW?

 On 26th December 2004, an undersea earthquake with a

magnitude of 9.1 struck off the coast in the Indonesian island of
Sumatra.

 Within few hours, a tsunami – that which was activated by the

quake reached across the Indian ocean touching the coastal
areas up-to East Africa.

 Few locations also reported that the waves had reached a

height of 40 Feet or more when they hit the shoreline.
WHEN AND HOW?

 According to experts, the violent movement of Earth's tectonic plate

under the ocean resulted in such deadly waves (it can be called as
tsunami of tectonic origin).

 The later reports also said that, Earthquake which occurred

under deep sea must have been sensed by the people
already before the tsunami.

 Countries like India, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar etc.

Were affected adversely by this tsunami & earthquake.
CONSEQUENCES -

 More than 18 countries were effected due to this tsunami, Indonesia

had highest and few regions of East Africa had the lowest impact
respectively.

 The tsunami had led to huge loss in areas of humanitarian,

economic and environmental.

 Various organizations like United Nations International Strategy for

Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) had measured the impacts of the
tsunami.
 CONSEQUENCES -

THE LOSS WAS MEASURED IN TERMS OF -

 Humanitarian (India only) :- according to official reports more than 10,000
people were killed and lakhs of people became homeless due to this disaster.

 Economic (India only) :- this disaster had led to huge economic loss, especially
in the southern states of our country which was estimated to be more than
10,000 crore rupees.

 Environmental (India only) :- Experts say the disaster was responsible

for contamination of natural resources like soil, water etc. And also destruction
of various natural habitats of species.
PREPAREDNESS -

 In India, natural disasters are handled by union ministry of home

affairs.
 The Indian Tri-services which includes Army, Air-Force and Navy, were
always ready to provide their services for emergency support
situations.
 Today we have a single agency like National Disaster Management
Authority (NDMA) to look after disaster management, which was not
formed during then disaster.
 During this disaster the other main authority to react was Indian Coast
Guard, and this can be called as central parliamentary force that was
put into service.
 WHAT HAD TO BE DONE?

After the disaster, few major tasks for the armed

forces were -
 To Rescue stranded persons and evacuating
them to safer places.
 Creating temporary shelters and relief camps.
 Disposing of dead bodies
 Ensuring adequate supplies of food, water and
medicines.
 Restoring basic lifeline infrastructure.
 Ensuring the safety of population living in remote
areas, such as trial's.
 RESCUE OPERATIONS -

 Rescue was a major effort that was carried out by

armed forces as well as various other agencies and
organizations.
 Rescue operations had to be done quickly as it had
a great scope & chance to save lives of vulnerable
people.
 According to official reports more than 28,000
people were rescued with help of Armed forces.
 And about 6 lakh people were moved to safer
places until recovery.
 RESPONSE -

 An immediate relief was facilitated by the

government of India, especially in the states of
Tamil nadu & Kerala.
 Total of 881 relief camps were opened by the
government agencies to safeguard people.
 Most of the people had to stay in relief camps
for longer duration, as lot of resources &
structures were destroyed completely.
 The basic amenities were provided regularly to
people staying in the relief camps with
the help of NGOs and Armed forces.
 RECOVERY -

 Recovery activities were started mainly after 10 days from the day of disaster.
 There were many agencies, countries, NGO's, celebrities, governments etc. That
donated for the recovery of horrible damage done by the disaster.
 Though andhra pradesh, kerala, odisha, west bengal needed only minimum
resources, Tamil nadu required the highest rate of recovery services.
 The recovery plan included - reconstruction of transportation services, proper retrieval
of health services, repairing the buildings & government offices, improving the
communication services, proving funds to effected families etc.
 The recovery activities were majorly conducted by Armed forces, volunteers, NGO's
and few general public as well.
 CONCLUSION -

 Though there was huge loss of lives, with the rescue and recovery services many were
actually saved.
 There was also a criticism that government misused the funds received by the various
agencies.
 The major problem was to provide enough food/water resources for the effected
people.
 This incident actually made the government and armed forces realise that we
actually need a separate agency/department for the management of disaster, and
this gave rise to NDMA, NDRF etc.
 It should be said that, forces and departments must be prepared to face the
challenge of such disasters even in future.
THANK YOU