Tsunami in South of Thailand

A tsunami..

A tsunami is the displacement of a substantial volume of water or perturbation of the sea. This displacement of water is usually attributed to either earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, or more rarely by meteorites and nuclear tests. The waves formed in this way are then sustained by gravity. Tsunamis can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water. Tectonic earthquakes are a particular kind of earthquake that are associated with the earth's crustal deformation; when these earthquakes occur beneath the sea, the water above the deformed area is displaced from its equilibrium position. More specifically, a tsunami can be generated when thrust faults associated with convergent or destructive plate boundaries move abruptly, resulting in water displacement, due to the vertical component of movement involved. Movement on normal faults will also cause displacement of the seabed, but the size of the largest of such events is normally too small to give rise to a significant tsunami.

Effect...

the Thai government reported 4,812 confirmed deaths, 8,457 injuries, and 4,499 missing after the country was hit by a tsunami caused by the Indian Ocean earthquake on 26 December 2004. The Thai authorities estimate that at least 8,150 are likely to have died. The popular tourist resort of Phuket was badly hit. The smaller but increasingly popular resort area of Khao Lak some 80 km north of Phuket was hit far worse with 3,950 confirmed deaths, however, the death toll in Khao Lak may have exceeded 4,500.

Official figures as of 7 January 2005
Province	Thai deaths	Foreign deaths	Total deaths	Thai injured	Foreign injured	Total injured	Missing
Krabi	288	188	476	808	568	1,376	890
Phang Nga	1,950	2,213	4,163	4,344	1,253	5,597	2,113
Phuket	154	105	259	591	520	1,111	700
Ranong	167	2	169	215	31	246	12
Satun	6	0	6	15	0	15	0
Trang	3	2	5	92	20	112	1
Total	2,568	2,510	5,078	6,065	2,392	8,457	3,716

TSUNAMI 2004 AND ITS IMPACT...

The 26 December tsunami was the worst natural disaster to ever strike Thailand, causing loss of life as well as major damage to property, the environment and the economy. The severe impact on the natural environment in turn had serious consequences on the fishing and tourism industries and, therefore, thousands of families' livelihoods.

  Sunday 26 December 2004 (timings given for Khao Lak, Baan Nam Khem village)

  07.58 Earthquake off west coast of Sumatra measured over 9 on the Richter Scale

  09.35 Sea receded to 100 metres from the Andaman coast for about 5 minutes 

  09.38 Large wave strikes, 2-3 metres high 

  09.43 First tsunami strikes - 6-7 metres high 

  10.03 Second tsunami strikes - 10 metres high 

  10.20 Third tsunami strikes, 5 metres high: causes hour long inundation 

  12.00 Sea level returns to normal

              Source: Department for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Ministry of Interior, Thailand

Description	Figure
No. people killed	5,395
No. people missing	2,817 1,972 Thai, 2,248 foreign nationals : 37 countries
Bodies still unidentified	1,650
No. of affected people	58,550
Children orphaned (loss of one or both parents)	1,480
Lost livelihoods in fisheries	30,000
Fishing boats destroyed or damaged	7,500
Lost livelihoods in tourism	120,000+
Houses destroyed or badly damaged	4,806
Estimated value of damages (not. inc. housing)	353.4 million USD
Thai Government assistance /compensation (as of 01 September 2005)	1.06 billion USD (inc. budget contributions, Prime Minister's Office, bank credit)
Relief Fund for Disaster Victims	31.75 million USD
UN emergency phase relief assistance	2.6 million USD
UN recovery programming (till mid 2006)	38.3 million USD

(Figures as of 07 September 2005)

      References:

Wikipedia, Inc. (2010) Tsunami. Retrieved from

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsunami

Un, Inc. (2008) Impact of tsunami. Retrieved from

- http://www.un.or.th/tsunamiinthailand/Tsunami2004anditsimpact.html