20th Anniversary of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
Context:
Recently, 26th December marked the 20th anniversary of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.
Relevance:
GS-01 (Geography)
GS-03 (Disaster management)
About the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami:
- It was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Asia and the most powerful earthquake in the 21st century.
- It originated in the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, due to a rupture along the fault between the Burma plate and the Indian plate.
- It was the third largest earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1 after Chile’s 1960 earthquake (magnitude 9.5) and Alaska’s 1964 earthquake (magnitude 9.2).
- With more than 2,27,000 deaths and over 1.7 million people displaced, this marked the deadliest tsunami in recorded history since 1900.
About Tsunami:
- Tsunamis are gigantic waves formed due to activities such as earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the sea.
- One of the features of a tsunami is that its waves do not increase in height in deep areas of the ocean, but as it approaches the land, the waves can go up to 30 m (100 ft) high.
- The speed of the tsunami waves depends on the depth of the ocean rather than the distance from the source of the wave.
- In 2007, the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences established the Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC) to issue early warnings. It is also an integral part of the Global Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System.
- India became the 5th country globally to have an advanced real-time ocean monitoring system, which is capable of issuing alerts in as little as 10 minutes.
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