The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, with a magnitude of 9.3, caused a tsunami that killed over 225,000 people in 11 countries. It was caused by a megathrust earthquake, and is the seventh deadliest natural disaster in history. The international community donated over $7 billion in aid, and reconstruction is still ongoing.
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was a catastrophic event associated with the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, the second largest ever recorded by a seismograph. The earthquake lasted about nine minutes, the longest on record, and had a magnitude on the Richter scale of 9.3, making it the second most severe earthquake since 1737. Its epicenter was off the west coast of Sumatra, in Indonesia. The immense amount of energy released caused the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which killed over 225,000 people in eleven countries and caused waves up to 30m (100ft) high. The shock of the earthquake itself was felt in Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore and the Maldives. The primary force of the tsunami was felt in the coastal nations of the Bay of Bengal east of India.
The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was the seventh deadliest natural disaster in history, surpassed only by another earthquake, two cyclones and three floods. The Indian Ocean tsunami destroyed many thousands of homes and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless, mainly in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. The international community responded by donating more than US$7 billion (2004 US dollars) in humanitarian aid and transporting supplies by jumbo jet. As of 2008, economic reconstruction in some coastal areas is still ongoing.
The Indian Ocean tsunami was caused by what’s called a megathrust earthquake, in which one tectonic plate slides under (subducts) another. In the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, the India plate subducted under the Burma plate, over 8-10 minutes, over a length of 1600 km (1000 mi), with a total movement of 35 m (108 ft ). This released energy equivalent to 26.3 megatons of TNT, more than 1502 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, but less than that of the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated. The event was followed by several aftershocks that shook the surrounding area daily for the next three to four months.
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