Wenqi Lu presents the facts of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami in this case study. In the morning of Dec 26th, 2004, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake shook the Indian Ocean, causing an 800 miles rupture in the ocean. Within 20 minutes Indonesia was the first country to be impacted, and eventually, the resulting damages spanned 14 countries. The total death count reached 227,898 people, with 1,740,000 people displaced, costing countries $15 billion to rebuild and recover.
From an epidemiological aspect, 3 countries (Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and India) suffered the greatest losses in lives. Females had a significantly higher documented mortality rate than males, with twenty-year-old males having the lowest rates. The association between distance from the coast, gender, and mortality rates was described by Wenqi Lu. The data used in this case study was aggregated by the Synthesis Report, and documented by the survey “Mortality, The Family and the Indian Ocean Tsunami”.
The global response to this disaster was unprecedented; in just a few hours food supplies, financial aid, and resources were rapidly deployed as well as long-term assistance to rebuild and reconstruct the affected areas. While almost half of the health clinics were damaged, the global community was able to set up mobile field hospitals and provided the necessary relief services.
From the event, lessons learned included the gaps in the warning systems and other mitigation plans, which have been adopted during the 2012 Japan earthquake and tsunami.
Read Wenqi Lu’s case study here