Boxing Day/Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004

Question	Answer
What type of plate boundary did the tsunami occur?	Destructive/Convergent
What was the magnitude of the earthquake that caused the tsunami?	9.1-9.3 (Richter scale). Cat. 12 on Mod. Mercalli 3rd largest earthquake on record.
What made the earthquake so severe?	Long duration - 8-10 mins
What were the characteristics of the tsunami?	500km wavelength. Earthquake displaced water up to 5km deep.
What made the tsunami so severe?	Affected developing countries. Occurred at 8am local time - early morning, many people likely to be out and about/working/in school. Lack of warning. Poor quality buildings. Poor quality infrastructure.
What were the casualties of the earthquake?	230,000+ deaths (169,000 in India) 162,351 reported missing (150,000+ in India) Approx 5 million people affected across the Indian Ocean
Other effects	1.7 million homeless. Maldives lost 62% GDP. 16-17 coral atolls rendered uninhabitable in Maldives.

Resource summary

	Created by Wesley Spearman over 6 years ago