Countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake
This article lists the countries affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the resulting tsunami in alphabetical order – for detailed information about each country see their individual articles. Countries with a smaller number of casualties, as well as those which have lost citizens who were travelling abroad, are listed further on in the article. For a table showing figures on people dead, missing and displaced, click here.
The tsunami toll has risen to 15,493 dead or feared dead, according to the table of casualties on the Home Ministry website. 9,575 casualties have been confirmed so far, most of them in the state of Tamil Nadu. There are still 5,918 people missing, nearly all of them in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The estimated number of casualties in India is 16,000, split roughly equally between the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Indian mainland.
Indonesia's Ministry of Health confirmed 220,000 dead [1] on 25 January, mainly in the northern province Aceh of the island Sumatra, and have not finished counting. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier stated that up to 100,000 are missing. In addition, the Indonesian ambassador to Malaysia said that up to 400,000 may be dead in villages that "show no signs of life", though the accuracy of this claim is unknown [2][3].
Despite its proximity to the incident, Malaysia escaped the kind of damage that struck countries thousands of miles further away. The number of deaths currently stands at 68 with 52 in Penang, 12 in Kedah, 3 in Perak and 1 in Selangor.
Villages and coastal communities in Somalia, as far as 4,500 km (2,800 mi) from the epicentre of the earthquake, were swept away and destroyed by the huge waves. 176 people were confirmed dead and more than 50,000 have been displaced.
Sri Lankan authorities and the Tamil Tigers together report 48,677 confirmed deaths, mostly children and the elderly [4]. The south and east coasts were worst hit. One and a half million people have been displaced from their homes, and many have been orphaned or separated from their families.
The Thai government reports 5,246 confirmed deaths, 8,457 injuries and 4,499 missing [5]. Damage was confined to the six southern provinces facing the Andaman Sea. The Thai government is keen to point out that the rest of the country is operating normally, and that even some resorts in the south have now re-opened.
Casualties: Two reported dead: One boy dead after swimming in the Quinera River at Gonubie , close to East London; an adult dead at Blue Horizon Bay near Port Elizabeth,[7] the furthest point from the epicentre of the earthquake where a tsunami-related death was reported. General observations: Ocean level variance two to three meters outside normal reported in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, and a surge of 1.5m was observed as far as Struisbaai in the Western Cape, 8500km from the epicentre of the earthquake. Some steps were taken in South Africa to warn ports and disaster management centres, although full details are not public.[8]Damage: Large concrete blocks were uprooted in East London harbour, where boats also broke from their moorings [9]. Boats and cars were submerged at the Algoa Bay Yacht Club in Port Elizabeth harbour. [10]Durban harbour, Africa's busiest general cargo port and home to the largest and busiest container terminal in the Southern Hemisphere, [11] was closed for some time on 27 December because of unusually strong surges across the entrance channel [12].
Tremors felt along the north-western coast, some minor flooding. Seas off Western Australia reportedly surged between Geraldton, 425 km north of Perth, where several boats were ripped from their moorings, and Busselton, 325 km south of Perth, where a father and son in a boat were washed out to sea, but were later rescued. No direct casualties have been reported within Australia. Despite early worries about Cocos (Keeling) Islands, no casualties were reported. People swimming at Christmas Island were sucked 150m out to sea, but were safely carried back to shore after a pause.
Flooding in low-lying coastal districts. No reported casualties. Waves reported variously as being between 1.6 and 10 metres in height swept through southeastern coastal areas near the towns of Manakara, Sambava and Vohemar — over 1,000 reported homeless. Problems were exacerbated by the approach of Cyclone Chambo. [13]
Struck by wave, no reports on casualties, a village in the north of the island completely submerged. Police had issued warnings to bathers to keep out of the water although this reportedly had the opposite effect with crowds thronging the beaches to watch the phenomenon. Speculation is that coral reefs surrounding much of the island protected the coastline. [14]
Tremors felt by residents in high-rise apartment blocks in the south of the city-state.
Countries that lost citizens while abroad
Below is a list of countries, mostly from outside the Indian Ocean region, who have reported dead or missing nationals as result of the disaster. Those trying to find family members or friends can use websites set up for this purpose, many of which are listed at the bottom of this page.
21 Australians have been confirmed to have lost their lives, and 6 are still missing. Earlier fears that several hundred Australians may have died have been revised: Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty put the likely death toll at between 30 and 100, and other sources said the final number will be about 50. The Australian Government designated Sunday 16 January as a national day of mourning in Australia for tsunami victims. Australians will be asked to observe a minute's silence at 11.59am.
62 Austrians confirmed killed in Thailand and Sri Lanka (as of Apr 10th, 2005). 40 Austrians have been reported still missing in the region (as of Apr 10th, 2005).
The Brazilian diplomat Lys Amayo de Benedek D'Avola and her 10-year old son died in Phi Phi, Thailand. At first, a list of about 300 people who were unaccounted for was put together. One by one, however, all the people were found, either in hospitals or already home or in other countries.
Fifteen Canadians have been confirmed dead, including one in Sri Lanka and two in Phuket. Another dozen have been confirmed injured. Another five Canadians have been reported missing.
Three confirmed dead, eight injured in Thailand and 15 missing. Action movie star Jet Li, on holiday with his family in the Maldives, suffered a minor foot injury while guiding his daughter to safety.
An eighteen month-old baby was reported dead in Thailand; her two parents and brother have been confirmed injured, according to the Consul of Colombia in Jakarta.
Five confirmed dead (four in Thailand, one in Sri Lanka) [15]; 3 other Czechs are missing and presumed dead (all in Thailand). Five were confirmed injured in Thailand, including the supermodel Petra Nemcova.
178 dead, of which 99 have been identified. Survivors include the former finance minister Sauli Niinistö, while musician Aki Sirkesalo with his family lost their lives. There were around 3,000 Finns travelling on the affected areas, majority in Thailand. Also, some of the Swedish victims were former or current Finnish citizens.
383 are confirmed dead and 188 are still missing. Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, on vacation in Sri Lanka, was rescued from the roof of his flooded hotel by military helicopter.
One person lightly injured in Phuket, Thailand, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Approximately 300 Greek tourists are estimated to be in Phuket.
Twentytwo residents were confirmed dead with 18 more believed to be dead in Thailand (CRHK). Officials said 70 locatable Hong Kong residents with detailed information are missing with 33 reportedly in Thailand, 2 reportedly in Malaysia, 10 reportedly in Sri Lanka, 0 reportedly in Maldives, 2 reportedly in Indonesia and 25 in other locations. The Immigration Department is still processing 549 remaining reports of missing citizens with incomplete information. According to major local media RTHK, TVB, SCMP, some 400 are still missing.
The Hong Kong SAR government has set up a web page containing information of some unlocated people on January 1 2005 (English: [17], Chinese: [18]).
54 Italian citizens were reported as dead. About 10,000/12,000 Italian citizens were in the region (either tourists or resident abroad), according to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
At least 34 confirmed bodies of Japanese and 10 missing. Amongst the missing are Sadayuki Yoshino, the First Secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Bangkok, and his son who were vacationing together at Phuket, Thailand.
There are currently 29 confirmed Dutch deaths. About 5 people are officially missing, meaning it has been confirmed they were in the area, and they have not been seen or heard from since the Tsunami. Another 5 Dutch citizens remain untracable: They have not been heard from since the Tsunami, but it is unclear if they were in the area at the time. Source: Several Dutch news reports.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry has confirmed three New Zealand deaths: a woman in Phuket, Thailand, a middle-aged man in Krabi, Thailand and an elderly New Zealand-born woman in Sri Lanka, who held Canadian citizenship. Another four New Zealanders are presumed dead, three of them near Khao Lak in Thailand[20]. Eight New Zealanders are reported to still be in hospital in Thailand, and one in Chennai, India.
According to Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs four Polish tourists are believed dead and 7 people are missing. Three people were hospitalised in Phuket and Krabi. The number of Polish tourists in the affected areas is estimated to be around 2,000.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a total of 230 Portuguese were thought to be in the region. From those, 4 are reported dead and 4 to be missing. 1 national still remains hospitalized in Thailand. The other 2 that were initially hospitalized were released and returned to Paris, where they live.
Two Romanian tourists were earlier reported missing in Phuket, Thailand, but they have been found safe. Over 20 Romanian tourists are estimated to be in the affected region, but according to Cristian Gaginschi, representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are no indications that any Romanian has been affected by the earthquake.
At least 10 are dead at Phuket, Thailand, and as many as 36 may be missing, according to the Russian Embassy. About 800 Russian tourists were at Phuket alone. Around 250 Russian tourists were in Sri Lanka, all of whom are safe.
Casualties in South East Asia: 12 South Africans have been confirmed dead and 3 are on the official missing list, feared dead. All these 15 people have died, or are feared to have died, in Phuket or on the Phi Phi Islands, Thailand. By 26 January 2005 the South African Department of Foreign Affairs had traced the whereabouts of all 2,896 South Africans who were known to have been in South East Asia at the time of the disaster. This includes those confirmed dead and those presumed dead.[22]Casualties in South Africa: The tsunami caused the death of two further South Africans on the South African coast.[23]Data checked: 23 February 2005.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1 confirmed dead and 1 missing, both in Khao Lak beach, in Phuket, Thailand (as of February 5th, 2005). [24].
Over 2,200 Swiss nationals are estimated to have been in the affected area at the time of disaster. 71 have been confirmed as deceased by the Department of Foreign Affairs, and many more injured; 41 persons are still missing.
Three confirmed dead, several missing and many injured. Thirty-five fishing boats from Taiwan in Phuket, Thailand, were beached and damaged; sailors suffered minor injuries.
According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey, one Turk killed in Phuket, Thailand. A plane, which was sent to Maldives by Turkish government to gather all the Turks in the region, returned with only 13 survivors and AKUT , a well-known Turkish search and rescue organisation that was taken there by the plane. Turkish GSM operator Turkcell announced that signals from 2,500 of its subscribers were received in the area, meaning at least 2,500 Turks were present when the disaster occurred [26].
Over 10,000 British holidaymakers are estimated to have been in the region. In January 2005, the Foreign & Commonwealth Office stated that 453 Britons were either confirmed as dead or were highly likely to have been killed [27]. But their estimate had reduced to 169 (including 95 confirmed deaths). Richard Attenborough's 14-year-old granddaughter Lucy Holland is among the dead; her sister Alice (17) is being treated in a hospital; two other family members are missing. Fashion photographer Simon Atlee is dead; he was on holiday with his girlfriend Czech model Petra Nemcova, who survived.
The US State Department reports 18 dead (including a well-known fashion photographer, Fernando Bengoechea) and 15 missing, presumed dead; out of them, nine died in Sri Lanka and 24 in Thailand. The State Department was working through a list of 18 unaccounted for as of February 8. It is understood that the key US/UK military installation at the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia was unaffected by the disaster.[28]
Detection of the tsunami outside the Indian Ocean region
Although it is in the coast of the Atlantic ocean the city of Rio de Janeiro detected strange tides fluctuations that changed up and down 30cm each half hour (normally it should vary up to 1.3 m in four hours. In the close city of Niterói, the sea level went up to 60cm entering in 50 fisherman houses. No significative loss was detected.
Tsunami energy that passed into the Pacific Ocean caused wave fluctuations of 2.6m at Manzanillo, Colima, due to focusing of tsunami energy from the Pacific plate rise and local terrain.
Tsunami energy that passed into the Pacific Ocean caused wave fluctuations of 18 cm at Port Vila.
It is reported that in Maoming , Guangdong, China, underground waterways and wells were filled with lots of unusually big catfish (塘虱) on 28 December. Half an hour after the earthquake, waves as high as 20cm occurred at fish ponds and wells in Maoming and Meizhou when there was no wind. (HKET, Maoming Daily)
Equipments at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil have detected uncommon tidal patterns after the earthquake.
