Remembering relevant events in History is one of the main targets of this blog. Today, we'll cover one of those relevant events, one natural disaster. Natural disasters are going to be a pillar in our blog, as a fan of natural disasters history I'll try bringing a myriad of posts about this topic, including a lot of information about them going from small details to the most outstanding ones, so, having said that, I deeply hope you to appreciate them as fans of nature, and history in general.
December 26, 2004.
West Coast from Northern Sumatra, Indonesia
7:58 AM, UTC+6
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The bays from the northern area of Sumatra were having a calm day that morning, till a megathrust earthquake shakes the coast of East Asia and in that precise moment, hell began. The Andaman-Sumatra megathrust earthquake was a 9.1 magnitude oceanic earthquake that directly affected countries from south-eastern Asia; shock, sorrow, fear and helplessness started invading south-eastern Asia. The earthquake itself was not the problem, but the enormous Tsunami it triggered. The range this Tsunami covered was too large, that even places like Southafrica (approximately 8000 kilometers away from Indonesia), Tanzania or Kenya were impacted by the colossal tsunami. More than a dozen of countries suffered the impact of the massive catastrophe spawned by the strongest earthquake in the last 60 years, just along the Tohoku earthquake from 2011. It was thought at the beginning that this earthquake had an 8.8 magnitude, later on, it was said it was 9.0 and finally, studies showed magnitude rose till 9.1.
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<< It was caused by a rupture along the fault between the Burma Plate and the Indian Plate.>> wikipedia.org
What cause the monstrous earthquake? The Indian Plate went beneath the Burma Plate structure accumulating a lot of pressure, which was eventually released, making a rupture that delivered a 9.1 earthquake and numerous aftershocks. According to Wikipedia, the earthquake reach was felt until the American state of Oklahoma (about 14.000 km away from epicenter)
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The Tsunami was the cause of the massive disaster, 24m high waves were registered to a maximum height of 30m. Unexpected places got hit by the Tsunami, for example the west coast of India, more specifically in the state of Kerala. Further countries like Somalia had more damages than even countries that were much closer to the epicenter, like Bangladesh. The damage the Tsunami caused, apart from the large death toll included: knocking down buildings and obliterating entire neighborhoods, deforming everything that was on its way. The impact that the Tsunami left environmentally speaking was negatively huge. Farming areas from the affected zones were completely wrecked and it's barely possible those areas would be available for any close future purposes, also the contamination due to the lots of chemicals and leavings that eventually ended up in sewers made difficult the creation of a new sewers system. Sewage collectors were blown up releasing a lot of residual water, polluting surroundings. 
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The Aftermath was devastating for those countries that were damaged the most. Factors like the economy had issues galore after the catastrophe, mostly in the tourism and fishing field. Donations were massive as all countries over the world didn't ignore the tragic events, this quick response turned out to be vital to overcome the emergency. The death toll varies according to sources, but figure roses between 280.000 and 250.000. More than 1.000.000 people got displaced, more than a thousand of them in Madagascar that is more than 6000 kilometers away. Displacing, shortage of food, health care, were the biggest inconveniences different governments from all affected countries dealt with. Also, psychological scars on many victims, as many of them tragically lost their family members or relatives, witnessed an apocalyptic scenario in which thousands and thousands begged mother nature to let them live, some of them lost everything.
Beliefs and religious questions were involved as well, as people claimed it could be God's punishment for mankind's wrongdoing.
<< An expression of God's wrath with the world. The world is being punished for wrongdoing -- be it people's needless hatred of each other, lack of charity, moral turpitude >> Schlomo Amar, Sephardic chief rabbi.
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Now, in 2020, some of the areas seem to be recovered, people are repopulating the previously wrecked areas and tourism has increased as well. Only those crushed areas, and the witness of those who lived through one of the worst natural disasters in history, and (probably the deadliest in this millennium) are the proof, the Indian Ocean turned into a villain in 2004.
- Leonardo Santos (script for my YouTube channel)
sources
https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Tsunami_death_toll_updated
https://www.britannica.com/event/Indian-Ocean-tsunami-of-2004
https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Strongest_earthquake_in_40_years_hits_Southeast_Asia
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