ABSTRACT
The Christmas 2004 earthquake and tsunamis In late December of 2004, as we all know, an earthquake with epicentre beneath the ocean floor about 10 km off the coast of Indonesia occurred. It announced the fact that at the touching line between two tectonic plates, one plate overlapped the other under great pressure. The forces released beneath the upper plate pushed the ocean floor up at least 10 metres and it then dropped back again. The earthquake was highly destructive on its own account, but what followed was much worse. The upward and downward movement of the plate sent shock waves running along the ocean floor in several directions. As these vibrations along the ocean floor approached land masses - Indonesia being the closest and first affected, then India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, etc., even Kenya and Somalia - they were forced to the water surface, creating enormous tsunamis. These raced ashore at speeds of up to 450+ km/hour. This meant that the water carried inland for considerable distances (depending on the contour of whatever land surfaces it struck) causing massive destruction and loss of life in its wake. Such tsunami events - and the horrific impacts on health and economies they can cause - are dealt with in greater detail further on in this chapter.
