Killer Waves

Humans love to play god. With the advent of technology, we forgot that there are some lines that mustn’t be crossed. Nevertheless, many natural disasters often occur due to excessive human intervention. The sea, which looks so calming, raged on with such brutality that even talking about it sends shivers down our spines, and makes us realize that if we don’t play by nature’s rules, nature won’t mind toying with us.

Tsunami kills. Image source: Indiatoday.in

Man thinks he is invincible till nature roars back. In 2004, the world witnessed one of the biggest natural disasters that devastated the region near the Indian ocean.

In the wee hours of 26th December 2004, an earthquake of magnitude 9.1 occurred. The epicentre was on the interface between the Burma and India tectonic plates. The seafloor was uplifted by several metres, causing the tsunami that wrecked the region in 2004.

An earthquake of any intensity worries people, but an earthquake of magnitude would leave people devastated. It seemed that as though that day, it was fated that nature would play its course and all that stood in its way, would be wiped out.

One of the rarer signs of an approaching tsunami is that the sea starts receding, almost causing a disappearing effect that makes any individual curious. A similar phenomenon transpired along the eastern coastline. For a few moments, the sea receded significantly from the shoreline. Curious children flocked to the coast to witness the rare sight and collect fish. People went as far as 2.5 miles to collect the aquatic produce the lay strewn on land.

And then, all of a sudden, the giant waves rushed in out of nowhere, leaving no time to flee. The waves wiped out everything and swallowed up all that they could.

There was no respite that day. An earthquake in the early hours was followed by a tsunami 30 minutes later. Sumatra was the first region to be affected by the killer waves. Thailand was next. Approximately 2-3 hours later, India and Sri Lanka had to bear the brunt of the disaster that struck in the morning.

In Sumatran provinces, more than 108100 people died; 127,700 were missing or presumed dead, and more than 426000 people now found themselves homeless. In India, more than 10,000 people died. Sri Lanka reported 35,000 dead.

The tsunami not only had debilitating effects on the nations' economies, but it was also feared that many communities were completely wiped out

There was concern that the Onge tribe of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was probably wiped out in the tsunami, but thankfully, they survived.

Many people would question why warnings weren't issued in advance. However, the truth is that the earthquake of this intensity had a swift, far-reaching effect like the tsunami. It travelled every 17 minutes from coast to coast, leaving people nowhere to run.

It was also observed that distance didn't matter because Somalia and many other African countries too felt the full-blown effect of the tragedy that brewed in the wee hours of that cold December morning.

Although our world is now much more equipped to deal with calamities and predict them, we mustn't forget that when it comes to man Vs nature, at the end of the day, nature will always win.

Understanding how it all happened. Image source: earthmagazine.org