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The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki The Black Death The Dust Bowl The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 The Hindenburg Disaster of 1937 Hurricane Katrina The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 The Influenza Pandemic of 1918–1919 The Johnstown Flood of 1889 The San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 The Sinking of the Titanic The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire WILLIAM W. LACE THE INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI OF 2004 Copyright © 2008 by Infobase Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Chelsea House An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lace, William W. The Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 / William W. Lace. p. cm.—(Great historic disasters) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7910-9642-0 (hardcover) 1. Earthquakes—Indian Ocean—Juvenile literature. 2. Tsunamis—Indian Ocean—Juvenile literature. 3. Indian Ocean Tsunami, 2004—Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series. QE537.2.I37.L33 2008 909'.098240831—dc22 2007036950 Chelsea House books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can find Chelsea House on the World Wide Web at http://www.chelseahouse.com Text design by Annie O’Donnell Cover design by Ben Peterson Printed in the United States of America Bang KT 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper. All links and Web addresses were checked and verified to be correct at the time of publication. Because of the dynamic nature of the Web, some addresses and links may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. Contents Introduction: Calm Before the Storm 7 1 “A Fairly Large Event” 11 2 “A Wall of Water” 24 3 Aftermath 39 4 Disease: “The Second Wave” 56 5 Response, Relief, Recovery 72 6 The Next Tsunami 88 Chronology and Timeline 102 Glossary 105 Bibliography 107 Further Reading 120 Picture Credits 122 Index 123 About the Author 127 Introduction: Calm Before the Storm S unday, December 26, 2004, should have been part of a quiet, happy, holiday weekend for people in the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean. It was a day off for most people, although it was a workday for some. Buddhists were celebrating Pournami, a holy day. Thousands of tourists from Europe had just finished celebrating Christmas. They looked forward to another day in the sun, far away from the colder weather back home. Christine Lang, vacationing from Vancouver, Canada, planned a morning of shopping on the Thai resort island of Phi Phi. She had admired a wooden Buddha a few days earlier in nearby Phuket but had decided not to buy it. Now, regretting her decision, she set out for the local market determined to find another. Also in Phuket was Chris Burke, an American studying medicine at a university in Australia. He had one more day of vacation left and was planning to spend it at the beach. He had no way of knowing how much his medical training would soon be needed. On a beach in Phuket, 10-year-old Tilly Smith was relaxing with her parents and younger sister. The sunny weather 7 8 THE INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI OF 2004 was a welcome change from her home in southeast England. It was also good to have a break from