On Sunday 26 December 2004, a magnitude 9 earthquake occurred off the West Coast of Northern Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. This caused the Indian Ocean tsunami that affected 13 countries and killed approximately 230,000 people.
This tsunami was particularly devastating because:
The earthquake which caused the tsunami was magnitude 9.
The epicentre was very close to some densely populated coastal communities, eg Indonesia. They had little or no warning. The only sign came just before the tsunami struck when the waterline suddenly retreated, exposing hundreds of metres of beach and seabed.
There was no Indian Ocean tsunami warning system in place. This could have saved more people in other countries further away from the epicentre.
Many of the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean are LEDCs so they could not afford to spend much on preparation and prevention.