Islamabad, Dec 28: The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004, one of the deadliest disasters in history, caught many by surprise. Experts were astonished to find that a large number of people in the affected regions were unaware of such a destructive phenomenon until it struck.
“Tsunami is a Japanese term,” explained Syamsidik, an engineer and director of the Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center at Syiah Kuala University in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Like many Indonesians, he uses only one name. Initially, he believed tsunamis were solely a concern for Japan. “This assumption misled many, including me,” he admitted.
That perception shifted dramatically on December 26, 2004, when a 9.1-magnitude earthquake near Sumatra triggered a massive tsunami. Waves as high as 16 stories and speeds of up to 300 miles per hour devastated shorelines across South and Southeast Asia and parts of East Africa.
Earthquake sensors provided early indications of the potential for disaster, but tsunami experts lacked the means to warn those in danger. At the time, monitoring systems were limited to the Pacific Ocean region, leaving the Indian Ocean unmonitored. “It was a distressing situation,” said Laura Kong, director of the International Tsunami Information Center, based in Hawaii. “We were unprepared.”
Over the past 20 years, scientists have significantly improved tsunami monitoring, modeling, and forecasting. Education and preparedness programs have been enhanced both locally and globally to prevent a repeat of the 2004 tragedy.
Despite progress, tsunamis like the 2011 disaster in Japan demonstrate the ongoing challenges in achieving zero fatalities. Most tsunamis result from earthquakes, though other events, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions, and meteor impacts, can also trigger these waves. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 78% of tsunamis between 1900 and 2015 originated in the Pacific Ocean, while only 5% began in the Indian Ocean.
