And today is .......
- Thread starter tiger_one
- Start date
It was something that Australia hadn’t experienced. The whole country united to help and it showed how powerful unity can be.
Hilariously we all know what today is yet we still had to look 🤣
December 26
Today, we remember the Boxing Day Tsunami when, on Sunday morning 26 December 2004 at 00:58:53 UTC, a massive earthquake measuring 9.1 on the Richter scale struck off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The epicentre was 30 kilometres under the seabed and approximately 250 kilometres south to south-west of Banda Aceh. The earthquake generated a series of towering waves which could travel at 80 km/h in shallow water, with the largest impact felt in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. In the nine hours following the earthquake, 14 aftershocks with magnitudes between 5.7 and 7.3 occurred along the arc from Sumatra towards Nicobar and the Andaman Islands.
Within 15 minutes of the earthquake, waves began striking the coasts of northern Sumatra and the Nicobar Islands. Waves of up to 30 metres were recorded as the tsunami swept through Aceh, the hardest hit region of Indonesia. Around two hours after the earthquake struck, waves reached Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. An hour later they reached the Maldives, and, more than seven hours after the initial quake, the tsunami was observed in Mauritius and along the east coast of Africa.
The tsunami waves caused widespread death and injuries, displaced thousands, destroyed towns, homes, livelihoods, infrastructure, and wrecked coastal areas.
Twenty-six Australians lost their lives.
Due to the scale of destruction estimates for total lives lost vary, according to the United Nations approximately 227,000 people were killed in fourteen countries. Data published by the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition indicated at least 275,000 people were killed. Across the region there are still people believed to have been swept away who have never been accounted for. Measured in lives lost, this makes it one of the 10 worst earthquakes in recorded history, as well as the single worst tsunami in history.
The Prime Minister of the day, John Howard, pledged A$1 billion over five years to rebuild tsunami-hit areas of Indonesia in "the single largest aid contribution ever made by Australia." The Australian government also pledged aid to other affected countries, while public and corporate donors contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to those affected.
Subsequently, the tsunami prompted the largest Australian peacetime overseas operation for relief and recovery, and led to major investment in a national tsunami warning system - Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre - to protect our own coastlines from similar events, though Australia experienced only minor coastal impacts like strong currents in WA and small wave heights in Sydney Harbour.
Today, we remember.
Those who were lost.
And the amazing Australians who joined other amazing relief and support humanitarian services in the recovery and restoration works to enable all affected to regain some normality in the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters ever.
"Worse than a war movie"
“Help. Help.”
“A wake-up call for humanity."
"There will always be the time before the tsunami, and after the tsunami"
Today, we remember the Boxing Day Tsunami when, on Sunday morning 26 December 2004 at 00:58:53 UTC, a massive earthquake measuring 9.1 on the Richter scale struck off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The epicentre was 30 kilometres under the seabed and approximately 250 kilometres south to south-west of Banda Aceh. The earthquake generated a series of towering waves which could travel at 80 km/h in shallow water, with the largest impact felt in Indonesia and Sri Lanka. In the nine hours following the earthquake, 14 aftershocks with magnitudes between 5.7 and 7.3 occurred along the arc from Sumatra towards Nicobar and the Andaman Islands.
Within 15 minutes of the earthquake, waves began striking the coasts of northern Sumatra and the Nicobar Islands. Waves of up to 30 metres were recorded as the tsunami swept through Aceh, the hardest hit region of Indonesia. Around two hours after the earthquake struck, waves reached Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. An hour later they reached the Maldives, and, more than seven hours after the initial quake, the tsunami was observed in Mauritius and along the east coast of Africa.
The tsunami waves caused widespread death and injuries, displaced thousands, destroyed towns, homes, livelihoods, infrastructure, and wrecked coastal areas.
Twenty-six Australians lost their lives.
Due to the scale of destruction estimates for total lives lost vary, according to the United Nations approximately 227,000 people were killed in fourteen countries. Data published by the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition indicated at least 275,000 people were killed. Across the region there are still people believed to have been swept away who have never been accounted for. Measured in lives lost, this makes it one of the 10 worst earthquakes in recorded history, as well as the single worst tsunami in history.
The Prime Minister of the day, John Howard, pledged A$1 billion over five years to rebuild tsunami-hit areas of Indonesia in "the single largest aid contribution ever made by Australia." The Australian government also pledged aid to other affected countries, while public and corporate donors contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to those affected.
Subsequently, the tsunami prompted the largest Australian peacetime overseas operation for relief and recovery, and led to major investment in a national tsunami warning system - Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre - to protect our own coastlines from similar events, though Australia experienced only minor coastal impacts like strong currents in WA and small wave heights in Sydney Harbour.
Today, we remember.
Those who were lost.
And the amazing Australians who joined other amazing relief and support humanitarian services in the recovery and restoration works to enable all affected to regain some normality in the aftermath of one of the worst natural disasters ever.
"Worse than a war movie"
“Help. Help.”
“A wake-up call for humanity."
"There will always be the time before the tsunami, and after the tsunami"
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